Four-way battle looms at Aboitiz Green Fashion Revolution 2016 Cebu

CEBU CITY—The Aboitiz Green Fashion Revolution (GFR) is set to heat up here in Cebu as a total of four schools are set to battle it out on the runway in a grand contest of form and function—with an environmental twist.

This year’s Aboitiz GFR Cebu 2016 finals night—which coincides with the National Day for Youth in Climate Action—will feature the top creative talents from the Fashion Institute of Design and Arts, University of San Carlos, University of San Jose-Recoletos, Cebu Institute of Technology-University, all of whom will be showcasing fierce and fabulous designs using 152 kilograms of repurposed waste material from various Aboitiz business units on November 26, Saturday, at the SM City Cebu Trade Hall. Earlier, the University of Cebu and Fashion Institute of the Philippines had participated in a pre-event workshop.

This year’s participants will compete for Best Clothing Design, Best Accessories Design, Best Bag Design, and Best Footwear Design, to be determined by set of esteemed judges: Benjamin Gomo of the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority, Sheridan Athena Gajete of the National Youth Commission, Jess Ouano of Anthill Fabric Gallery, OJ Hofer of Zee Lifestyle Magazine, and Joy Chicano, Project Runway Season 4 2015 Winner.

On top of the grand prize, winners will get to implement a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project for their chosen beneficiary.

“We are pleased to provide a venue for Cebu’s creative talents to exercise their talents and champion sustainable designs through the Aboitiz GFR. This year’s participation clearly shows our contestants’ passion for the environment, and we hope that they will continue to champion a sustainability mindset through outstanding designs that embody sustainability and resource conservation,” Sonny Carpio, Aboitiz Foundation Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, said.

The program was the brainchild of a group of Aboitiz scholars during the Aboitiz Scholars’ Corporate Social Responsibility Summit in December 2011 and was first staged in 2012 through the auspices of the Aboitiz Foundation, the corporate foundation of the Aboitiz Group.

Since then, it has been challenging students to create clothing, footwear, and accessories that make use of recycled materials and highlight the importance of the 3Rs—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. It is currently an initiative under the Aboitiz Group’s Wealth on Waste Program that promotes creative recycling of waste materials after their useful life.

Last month, the Aboitiz Green Fashion Revolution was given a Silver Stevie Award for the category Communications or Public Relations Campaign of the Year-Sponsorship at The Stevie Awards, the world’s premier business awards.

An annual favorite within Cebu’s college and university fashion circuit for the past four years, the Aboitiz Green Fashion Revolution—with the theme “ECOUTURE: Greener Design for a BetterWorld”—successfully debuted in Manila last January.

This year’s GFR supports two of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Life Below Water (conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development) and Life on Land (protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss).

According to the UN, oceans cover three quarters of the Earth’s surface, contain 97% of the Earth’s water, and represent 99% of the living space on the planet by volume. Yet as much as 40% of the world’s oceans are heavily affected by human activities, including pollution, depleted fisheries, and loss of coastal habitats.
As part of its Environment for a #BetterWorld campaign, the Aboitiz Foundation spearheads the implementation of programs that promote environmental conservation and biodiversity enhancement. Through the active participation of Aboitiz team members across the Group, the organization ensures that it is doing its part in caring for the planet while building a sustainable enterprise that can be entrusted to future generations. Among these initiatives include the Race to Reduce program that underpins the Aboitiz Group’s commitment to the efficient use of enterprise resources, the A-Park Program which aims to plant nine million trees nationwide by 2020, 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) and 66 other species.