Youth urged to act on environment at annual Aboitiz student fashion tilt
The Aboitiz Group is taking its support for the environment front and center on the fashion runway with Aboitiz Green Fashion Revolution (GFR) Cebu 2017, which incidentally takes place on the National Day for Youth in Climate Action.
Bringing together students from Cebu Institute of Technology-University, Fashion Institute of Design and Arts, St. Theresa’s College of Cebu, Fashion Institute of the Philippines Cebu Branch, and University of the Philippines-Cebu—with the theme “Life Flourishing on Land and in Water”—GFR Cebu takes place today, November 25, Saturday, 6 p.m. at SM City Cebu Trade Halls 1 and 2 in Cebu City.
November 25 has been earlier declared “National Day for Youth in Climate Action,” which aims to convey the importance of urgent action on climate change by promoting youth initiatives on this issue.
This year’s GFR Cebu will feature an esteemed panel of judges comprised of actors and resource allocation-oriented CORA Foundation members Antoinette Taus and Alex Godinez; Jess Ouano of Anthill Fabric Gallery; Ben Gomo of the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority; and Dave Devilles of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.
“Addressing the challenges of climate change involves everyone’s efforts, including initiatives from the Filipino youth. Through events like GFR Cebu, we hope to draw the best of Filipino creative talent while strongly advocating resource conservation. Indeed, we can help co-create communities that are safe, empowered, and sustainable through environmentally-friendly fashion designs,” Maribeth L. Marasigan, Aboitiz Foundation first vice president and chief operating officer, said.
A brainchild of a group of Aboitiz scholars during the Aboitiz Scholars’ Corporate Social Responsibility Summit in December 2011, GFR and was first staged in Cebu and Manila in 2012 and 2016, respectively, through the auspices of the Aboitiz Foundation, the corporate foundation of the Aboitiz Group.
Since then, it has become an annual favorite among the college and university fashion circuit, 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 Race to Reduce 2.0 program that promotes creative recycling of waste materials after their useful life. Approximately 1,600 kilograms of waste material from various Aboitiz business units are repurposed annually for Aboitiz GFR since it began in 2011.
In 2016, the GFR 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, and last March, a Gold Anvil Award at the Public Relations Society of the Philippines’ Anvil Awards.
This year’s GFR continues to support 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).
