Hayden Hits Refresh
Dr. Hayden Kho Jr. knows aesthetics is more than skin deep, and between running a medical empire, evolving his personal style, and championing VANGUART’s fearless timepieces, he’s got the receipts
- Dr. Hayden Kho Jr. brings his eye for aesthetics from medicine into fashion, where years of modeling and personal experimentation have shaped his approach to style.
- His appreciation for VANGUART’s fearless timepieces comes down to mechanical ingenuity and the details that make a watch worth wearing long after the novelty wears off.
The business of looking good
Aesthetics has always been Dr. Hayden Kho Jr.’s business. Sometimes literally. As Chairman of the Belo Group of Companies, one of the Philippines’ most prominent names in aesthetic medicine, he’s spent years at the intersection of science and the business of looking good.
Add a medical degree, an unexpected history in fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary, a front-row presence at international Fashion Weeks, and a stake in independent luxury watchmaking, and you begin to understand why Hayden’s difficult to fit neatly into a single category. He’s made a career out of knowing what catches the eye, but his real interest lies in figuring out what makes it worth keeping.
This matters, particularly in fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary, where a hefty price tag and a recognizable name can sometimes do too much of the talking. For him, beauty’s a discipline of its own, one that rewards an appreciation for the thinking behind the finished product.
It’s an instinct that connects his work in aesthetic medicine with his personal interest in fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary and, increasingly, his involvement with VANGUART, the independent watch brand whose fearless designs and mechanical ingenuity have captured his attention.
A last-minute runway calling
Hayden’s route into fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary, meanwhile, was hardly the stuff of a meticulously plotted career plan. At 16, while still in school, he was called in at the last minute to replace a model who had fallen ill before a major fashion show. He’d never walked a runway. Tall, thin, bald, and willing to give it a go, he accepted the job. It was an impromptu debut that would introduce him to an industry he continued to explore alongside his medical studies.
Modeling was never his main occupation. He fitted go-sees and fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary jobs around university, working with Filipino designers who eventually took notice of him, including the late Pitoy Moreno. Along the way, he acquired an education that no textbook could quite replicate: how the right outfit can say something before its wearer has even opened his mouth.
“Fashion, beauty, and aesthetics might seem like three different worlds, but I see a common thread among them. They all involve attention to detail, creativity, and, most importantly, an understanding of people.”
A neat explanation for a career that moves between such seemingly different territories. In each, the details matter. So does the person on the receiving end. A treatment, a tailored jacket, or a finely engineered watch might begin with a technical process, but its ultimate value depends on how it makes someone feel.
Hayden has little patience for the notion that personal style should come with an age limit. At 46, he remains perfectly happy in hoodies and varsity jackets, thank you very much, despite the occasional suggestion that he ought to dress more conservatively. The idea that a man should graduate into a prescribed wardrobe by a certain birthday strikes him as rather beside the point.
His own style has evolved considerably. In his younger years, he followed trends and borrowed from other people while figuring out what suited him. Looking back at old photographs can still inspire a wince. There are clothes he bought and never wore, outfits he cannot quite explain, and the odd fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary decision that seemed perfectly reasonable at the time.
These days, his references are more personal. Architecture, nature, art, and literature have all influenced his taste, helping him move beyond the temptation to dress like everyone else.
“Clothes, in themselves, don’t have to mean anything. What matters is how you wear them and what you express through them.”
A watchful eye
This attitude extends to his appreciation of watches. Hayden began collecting them at 25, when many of the pricier pieces he admired remained beyond his budget. Over time, his collection grew, and his interest shifted towards independent watchmakers, whose freedom to experiment offers an alternative to the conventions of established luxury. Enter VANGUART.
His appreciation for design and craftsmanship finds a natural expression in VANGUART’s timepieces. The brand’s approach centers on mechanical innovation and material selection, giving its watches substance beneath their striking appearance.
“If I had to sum up VANGUART’s design ethos in one word, it would be fearlessness. The watches are bold, but functionality remains central to the design. They stand out without seeming to try too hard to be different.”
What makes VANGUART interesting to Hayden is the intention behind the design: the choices that give a watch its personality, the technical decisions that shape its construction, and the willingness to question how things have traditionally been done.
He approaches a timepiece much as he would a work of art. Craftsmanship matters, naturally, but originality matters just as much. He wants to know why a tourbillon sits in the center rather than to one side or why a monopusher has been incorporated into the design.
VANGUART’s current collection comprises two models: the Orb and the Black Hole Tourbillon, the brand’s debut timepiece. Both appeal to him for their design, although the Black Hole carries a personal significance. The brand customized his watch with his name, Hayden, making it among the first few pieces produced.
The art of knowing the time
So what makes a watch worth owning? He has a straightforward set of criteria. First, he has to feel something for it. Second, it needs a personality, whether expressed through its mechanism, calibre, or design. Third, it has to fit properly and work with his wardrobe. A watch may look magnificent in a photograph, but if it feels too heavy on the wrist or proves impossible to style, the romance can wear off quickly.
“Ultimately, I think the real test of a good watch is whether you keep looking at it even when you already know what time it is.”
His advice to men still working out their own style is refreshingly uncomplicated: experiment. Try different silhouettes, pay attention to what feels right, and resist the urge to dress according to somebody else’s expectations.
“Don’t take fashion too seriously. Have fun with it. Getting dressed shouldn’t leave you feeling stressed or constrained.”
And there will be mistakes. Hayden’s quite happy to admit that he still makes them, whether it’s buying something that fits badly or discovering that a piece he once coveted does very little for him in practice.
His philosophy also brings his various pursuits into focus. In aesthetic medicine, fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary, and watchmaking, he’s drawn to the relationship between appearance and purpose. The visible result matters, but so does the work and technical skill behind it.
With VANGUART, that curiosity finds a fitting expression in watches that challenge the expected while taking their mechanics seriously. For Dr. Hayden Kho Jr., fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary is most interesting when it has something to offer beyond the label, when a design makes you look twice and gives you a reason to keep looking.
As seen in the pages of VMAN SEA 07: now available for purchase!
Photography Jharwin Castaneda
Creative direction Vince Uy
Fashion Bang Pineda
Grooming Angeline Dela Cruz
Hair Elizabeth Babaran and Jovelyn Coronel
Art direction Mike Miguel
Fashion editor Rex Atienza
Photography assistants Aljon Celis and Joshua Navato
Production design Arj Madarang, Wilburn Hernandez, and Jonas Driz (Jagger Studios)
Production Francis Vicente
Special thanks Jaymee Librada and Samantha Arzadon
Frequently Asked Questions
Dr. Hayden Kho Jr. is a Filipino physician, entrepreneur, and fashion enthusiast best known for his work in aesthetic medicine.
Hayden Kho entered fashion at 16 after being asked to replace an absent model at a major fashion show. He continued modeling alongside his medical studies, working with Filipino designers including the late Pitoy Moreno.
Hayden Kho’s personal style is rooted in individuality and experimentation. He enjoys wearing hoodies and varsity jackets at 46, drawing inspiration from architecture, nature, art, and literature rather than following trends.
VANGUART is an independent watch brand known for its fearless designs and mechanical innovation. Its collection includes the Orb and the Black Hole Tourbillon, its debut timepiece.
Hayden Kho looks for three things: an emotional connection, a distinctive personality expressed through its mechanism or design, and a comfortable fit that complements his wardrobe. He believes a good watch should make its owner want to keep looking at it, even when they already know the time.
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