Fashion Institute of Design and Arts, “The Lost City”
TRASH transformed into haute couture pieces, set in an imaginary dystopian world took centerstage at the Aboitiz Green Fashion Revolution.
Now on its fifth year, the competition has been challenging students in Cebu-based schools to create trashion (a portmanteau of “trash” and “fashion”) pieces using recycled materials, highlighting the importance of the 3Rs—Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
This year’s theme “ECOTOURE: Greener Design for a Better World” was launched in Manila in January.
For Cebu’s four-way battle, the Fashion Institute of Design and Arts (FIDA) came out on top, sweeping all special awards. It was FIDA’s first time to join the environmental fashion tilt.
Call it beginner’s luck but the FIDA team, which includes renowned Cebuano designers, attribute it to “creativity and hard work.”
Cebu Institute of Technology-University, “Western Natives”
Stylist Edward James Castro, one of FIDA’s student-designers, said their ensembles were made of burlap fabric, used flour sacks for some of the draped pieces, used gauze and the backing of tarps.
“The pieces were dyed using natural dyes like turmeric, beetroot, coffee and henna. The shoes were made of burlap fabric and the heels were made from cork,” Edward shared.
The accessories were made from little lost things like safety pins, copper wires, coins and keys, with belts made from cable wires and braided flour sacks.
With its “The Lost City” theme, FIDA bagged all the special awards—Best Clothing Design, Best Accessories Design, Best Bag Design and Best Footwear Design.
University of San Carlos, “Undines”
“We created this hypothetical dystopian future. When materials become scarce, humanity has no choice but to become as resourceful as they can, utilizing whatever’s left after the “apocalypse.” It’s actually how we envision what a sunken civilization would look like,” said Edward.
The Best Female Model award was given to Daina Nelson while Lawrence Reynolds was awarded Best Male Model. Both are from FIDA.
Defending champion, the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) won first runner-up, followed by the University of San Carlos (USC) and University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R), as second and third runners-up respectively.
The creative talents from the four competing schools used a total of 152 kilograms of repurposed waste material from various Aboitiz business units.
University of San Jose-Recoletos, “#Beauty-InChaos”
“We are always pleased to provide a venue for Cebu’s creative youth to exercise their talents and champion sustainable designs through the Aboitiz Green Fashion Revolution,” said Sonny Carpio, Aboitiz Foundation Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
This year, the Aboitiz Green Fashion Revolution is supporting two of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, “Life Below Water” and “Life on Land.”
With the #BetterWorld campaign, Aboitiz Foundation is spearheading the implementation of programs that promote environmental conservation and biodiversity enhancement.
This includes the Race to Reduce program, the A-Park Program and the Aboitiz Cleanergy Park, an eight-hectare outdoor biodiversity park
in Davao City, that is home to the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle (pawikan).