Ryl&eacute; Tuviera, aka The Fierce Walker, turns hardship into fuel. Uncover the grit behind her global ascent and witness how she is redefining success and unleashing the force of Filipino fashion.

Before she became The Fierce Walker<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">&mdash;before the front-row <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">invitations and the industry trust&mdash;Rylé Tuviera had already lived a dozen lives. Long before she learned how to speak <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">like a woman who belongs in every room, she learned how to walk, climb, endure, ask, and rebuild from nothing.
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She left the Philippines at 15, chasing education more than glamour: Singapore for styling, London for luxury brand management at Central Saint Martins, then art direction at London College of Fashion. Visa walls blocked her future, so she moved to Dubai and started again. She designed abayas, mixed bakhoor and oud for Emirati families, trained with Japanese managers at 7-Eleven in UAE, and slept in shared bedspaces while working twelve-hour shifts. Every job taught her a new language: labor, humility, observation, reinvention. 
By the time the pandemic hit, she had already survived enough upheaval to know when to run. After the final Paris shows were canceled, she boarded a 13-hour bus to Barcelona with 600 euros and three suitcases. Five days later, the hotel shut down. With nowhere to go, she walked into a Filipino restaurant and asked the staff for help. They pointed her to San Agustin&mdash;the Filipino church in Barcelona. 
There, she approached the priest directly, exhausted and terrified, and told him plainly: &ldquo;Father, help me. I want to stay here, but I don&rsquo;t know how.&rdquo; It wasn&rsquo;t strategy&mdash;it was survival stripped of pride. The priest listened, made a few quiet calls, and found a Filipino family willing to take her in. That act of kindness&mdash; became the hinge on which her entire European life swung open. 
Told she had only two options as a transwoman&mdash;nanny or sex work&mdash;she chose the former. And from those beginnings rose the woman the industry now sees. The Fierce Walker may know how <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">to talk today, but she first learned how to walk, to ask for help, to climb through impossible terrain, and now, to teach others how to climb with her.
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How did you come up with The Fierce Walker as a name? 
My father loves to drink Johnnie Walker, and I always watched America&rsquo;s Next Top Model with Tyra Banks. She always says &ldquo;fierce.&rdquo; 
That&rsquo;s the story: The Fierce Walker. 
For those who are uninitiated, how would you describe The Fierce Walker, as a brand and as a part of yourself?
The Fierce Walker is a brand and an image of resilience, tenacity, and someone who knows how to navigate the fashion world more authentically. I don&rsquo;t have connections through family or school. I got everything through hard work. 
That&rsquo;s something I want Filipinos to know: we are charming people, we have charisma, and we&rsquo;re easy to deal with. We&rsquo;re very resilient. With our charm and this natural energy, we can navigate anything&mdash;we always strive, whether it&rsquo;s in sports, beauty contests, fashion, business, or food. It&rsquo;s within us. We don&rsquo;t need a backup. We are the backup. 
In that sense, Rylé as The Fierce Walker is my alter ego. Before, I was hiding behind The Fierce Walker brand. Now, it&rsquo;s becoming me as well&mdash;Rylé is coming into the light. 
You&rsquo;ve mentioned having a kind of &ldquo;double life&rdquo; before. Can you share that side of your story?
Before, I really had a double life. I used to work as a nanny here in Barcelona. During the pandemic, that was my first job when <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">I moved here, because I didn&rsquo;t know anyone. I came here with nothing&mdash;just 600 euros in my pocket, no plans, nothing. Then the lockdown came 10 days after I arrived. 
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We see The Fierce Walker on Instagram, but can you tell us more about your upbringing, roots in the Philippines, and how you eventually landed in Barcelona?
My mom is Lebanese, and my dad is Filipino. I grew up mostly with my grandmother and aunt in the Philippines, and I&rsquo;ve always been independent. After moving around different countries for school and work, I eventually made my way to Barcelona during the pandemic&mdash;an unexpected but life-changing pivot that forced me to rebuild from scratch and start again. 
How did the transition to Europe unfold, especially around COVID?
I arrived in Paris for fashion week just as the pandemic hit. Shows were cancelled, borders were closing, and I ended up taking a long bus ride to Barcelona to escape the lockdown. It was chaotic, but ultimately, the beginning of my life in Spain. 
What did you study in Barcelona, and how did that lead to content work?
I took a post-graduate degree in communication and digital content creation. While studying, I started creating content more seriously and got introduced to the Spanish&ndash;Catalan creative community. That opened doors to local events and collaborations, and I worked part-time as head of marketing for a network of co-working spaces. 
After finishing my studies and building those early connections, I finally opened my own company, marking the true start of my career in Europe. 
Tell us about your company, Baby Drama. Why that name? 
I opened Baby Drama, a content production design agency. At first, we focused on children&rsquo;s clothes, but I later moved into glass accessories because there was a big boom of glass studios in Barcelona, and I love fashion. 
The name &ldquo;Baby Drama&rdquo; comes from the idea that we all have a baby inside us&mdash;we all want to be treated like a baby by our partner, parents, or the people around us&mdash;but also, we all have drama inside us. That&rsquo;s why: Baby Drama. 
After launching Baby Drama, how did your fashion career in Europe evolve?
Once Baby Drama was up, I pivoted from children&rsquo;s clothes to <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">glass accessories and then decided to return to something I love: attending fashion week. I went back to Paris and Milan fashion weeks and kept traveling for two years. Now, I work with some of the biggest brands in Europe.
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I also got the job with CIFF and other projects I&rsquo;ve been working on. Next year, my goal is to focus on stage interviews and podcasts and to interview creative directors of brands. Sometimes I contribute to magazines&mdash;articles and exclusives&mdash;because creative directors trust me and want to give those exclusive scoops. That&rsquo;s the new avenue I&rsquo;m working on. 
It&rsquo;s quite a journey career-wise. Can you tell us more about your journey as a trans woman in the fashion industry? 
Working as a transwoman in fashion, you always expect people to say no. You already set yourself up for that: &ldquo;They will say no to me.&rdquo; So my instinct is always, &ldquo;What can I do so they&rsquo;ll say yes?&rdquo; I ask myself: How can I please someone? How can I prove myself? How can I perform? Because I&rsquo;m Filipino, I&rsquo;m Lebanese, and I&rsquo;m a transwoman&mdash;it&rsquo;s a triple whammy. So where do I go? 
My solution was to study the market and the people, and to use the Filipino charm&mdash;being resilient and kind to everyone. That helped me. I don&rsquo;t want to just use the &ldquo;trans card&rdquo; or LGBT card. It&rsquo;s easy for people to use that for campaigns, projects, and connections, sometimes out of pity. I don&rsquo;t want pity. I&rsquo;m a professional. 
I want people to see that Rylé is a professional, inspiring, and knows her stuff. I want them to focus on what I bring to the table. I know my worth, my value, what I can contribute, and my network&mdash;and my network can back up my work. 
This is what I want to inspire in many trans people, especially in the Philippines: there is nothing wrong with working odd jobs. 
You don&rsquo;t always have to show that you&rsquo;re better than everyone, the most fabulous, or always flaunting luxury items. There are other ways to honor our bodies and ourselves as women, as LGBT, and as members of society. Never let your gender or ethnicity be the hindrance that keeps you from your goals or dreams. 
When did you first realize your gender identity? 
Grade 1. My teacher announced a haircut inspection for boys, called my surname &ldquo;Dela Cruz,&rdquo; and I said, &ldquo;Ma&rsquo;am, why can&rsquo;t Ana have her haircut checked too?&rdquo; The teacher said, &ldquo;Because she&rsquo;s a girl.&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m a girl.&rdquo; She said, &ldquo;No, you&rsquo;re a boy.&rdquo; I was slapped. Since then, I had an identity crisis. I didn&rsquo;t know if I was gay or a woman. I felt stuck in the wrong body. My surgery this February changed a lot. I used to be dark, insecure. When <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">people criticize, gossip, or spread negativity, it means something inside them is broken. I learned that the hard way.
 
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You mentioned that the FASHIONPhilippines Milan Mentorship Prgram got renewed for another two years. What exactly is your role, and who are you working with?
Yes, the project has been renewed for two more years. I&rsquo;ve been working closely with Tetta Ortiz Matera, the curator of the project. Our goal is to help Filipino designers amplify their strengths and technical skills by connecting them with international mentors. I&rsquo;m in charge of onboarding the international jury. Many Filipinos were shocked&mdash;&ldquo;Who is this woman?&rdquo;&mdash;because I&rsquo;m the only Filipino on the panel. People get intrigued. They don&rsquo;t realize I&rsquo;ve been working behind the scenes on these projects for many years. Now, I&rsquo;m not behind the scenes anymore. 
What do Filipino designers need to understand when entering the European market?
Filipinos must understand the market here&mdash;it&rsquo;s very different. Even established designers need to learn merchandising, production, and managing orders. 
In the Philippines, we&rsquo;re known for made-to-order. But in Europe, nobody knows you. So, darling, perform. Show up. Work. Do something. 
The luxury fashion industry is plummeting&mdash;LVMH, Kering, many others. That&rsquo;s why there&rsquo;s a rise of up-and-coming designers. This is the time for Filipinos to try their luck abroad. People want quality, uniqueness, pieces with story and soul. Filipinos already do that&mdash;but no one knows us yet. 
So they need to reach out, build relationships, cultivate them, and grow from them. It&rsquo;s not one-time, &ldquo;I met you once.&rdquo; You need to evolve those relationships. 
You mentioned &ldquo;luxury&rdquo; earlier&mdash;how do you define luxury? 
Luxury today isn&rsquo;t tangible. It&rsquo;s not just a product. Luxury is connection. Emotion. Experience. You can buy a course, but you can&rsquo;t buy the journey. Everyone&rsquo;s journey is different. And one thing: in the Philippines, people think &ldquo;the more brands I work with, the better.&rdquo; No. In Europe, the fewer brands you work with, the more curated you are, the more you preserve the relationships, and the more brands respect you. 
You mentioned &ldquo;culture, currency, and financial literacy&rdquo; being important to creatives. Can you elaborate? Culture&mdash;you need to understand the community. Why <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">showrooms succeed or stagnate is about culture. You need conversations that move people. Currency&mdash;your influence, your taste, your voice. What do you bring? What do you evoke?
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Financial literacy&mdash;many creatives love to spend the moment they go viral. Dior! LV! Balenciaga! No, darling. Let your money work for you. Don&rsquo;t let it sleep in a bank. Don&rsquo;t splurge on validation. Every creative needs three kinds of money: money that comes every month (stable work), money that comes passively, and money that feeds your passion. In the Philippines, many creatives burn out because they repeat the same moves without growth. 
Did you learn these things the hard way? 
Yes. All of this comes from experience. I&rsquo;m not impressed by follower count. I look at: how a person communicates, how they respect others, how they say thank you and sorry. If you don&rsquo;t greet people or acknowledge others, that&rsquo;s a red flag. 
You seem very strategic, but also very emotional. Are you emotional by nature? 
Yes! Very emotional, sensitive, and empathetic. I can read people from afar. That&rsquo;s why authenticity matters to me. If I like you, I like you. If I don&rsquo;t, I don&rsquo;t. 
What&rsquo;s your soft side like? 
I love adobo. Cooking is my love language. I don&rsquo;t say &ldquo;How are you?&rdquo; I say, &ldquo;Have you eaten?&rdquo; If I don&rsquo;t ask you that, it means I don&rsquo;t care. I learned to cook at age seven. I had a sheltered childhood. 
You mentioned you&rsquo;re transitioning your brand identity. Can you elaborate? 
Yes. Next year, we&rsquo;re going out more as &ldquo;Rylé.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s why my Instagram name changed&mdash;it&rsquo;s no longer &ldquo;The Fierce Walker.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s Ryle Tuviera now. 
My company is now The Fierce Walker Lab, focusing on production, videos, and working with freelancers. 
What does &ldquo;fierce&rdquo; mean to you now? 
&ldquo;Fierce&rdquo; is not street style. In fact, I hate street style photos. They&rsquo;re so glossy and performative. Fierce is knowing what you stand for, asking what&rsquo;s in someone&rsquo;s mind, not what they wear, offering a Filipino aesthetic that&rsquo;s authentic, understanding that &ldquo;less&rdquo; is sometimes better, and protecting your energy. When you surround yourself with too many influential people, you can lose yourself. 
You need to edit your life&mdash;who stays, who goes, who uplifts you. 
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Fierce, Not Fears: Rylé Tuviera

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