DE La Salle University-College of Saint Benilde (DLSU-CSB) was the big winner at the recently concluded Aboitiz Green Fashion Revolution 2016 held at the SMX Convention Center Aura through its collection highlighting the alarming concern on water pollution.
The brother college of DLSU won the grand prize and had a clean sweep of all the five special awards: Best Clothing Design, Best Accessories Design, Best Bag Design and Best Footwear Design titles.
DLSU-CSB showcased before the hundred-plus crowd its edgy design concept dubbed “Eiron,” from the Greek word for “irony.”
Through its entry, the private academic institution said it wanted to create awareness on how people kill waters and suffocate them with pollution. “The biggest irony is that we, its supposed caretakers, are the very source of its pain and destruction,” DLSU-CSB added.
In line with the theme “Ecouture: Greener Design for a BetterWorld,” the participants’ designs were all derived from around 200 kilograms of materials from different Aboitiz business units.
Aboitiz Foundation EVP and COO Augusto “Sonny” Carpio III said the conglomerate has a “sustainability mind-set of doing well by doing good, always making the right long-term decisions that balance the interest of people, planet and profit.”
“We would like to pass and instill this mind-set to our youth, as young as they are, like our participants,” he said.
In December 2011 a group of the firm’s scholars which participated in the Aboitiz Scholars’ CSR Summit conceptualized and organized the Aboitiz Green Fashion Revolution. It was first held the following year through the Aboitiz Foundation, and has since been challenging students to create clothing, footwear and accessories that make use of old materials and highlight the importance of the 3Rs—Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. A yearly favorite event in Cebu’s academiccommunity for four years, this intercollegiate fashion design competition-for-a-cause successfully debuted in Manila for the first time this year. Apart from pocketing the P50,000 cash prize, DLSU-CSB has the opportunity to implement a CSR project in coordination with the Aboitiz Foundation.
The school bested the collections from two other schools, namely the University of the Philippines Diliman and Asia Pacific College, which were named first and second runners-up, respectively.
“We would like to congratulate all schools that participated in this event. We consider you all winners not only for this event, but champions in creating a better world through sustainable green fashion,” Carpio said.