noun
1. a fine, filmy substanceconsisting of cobwebs
spun by spiders
2. used to refer tosomething very light,
thin, and insubstantial
or delicate

A Fashion Revolution Philippines Zine
October 2019

FASHION REVOLUTION PHILIPPINESIN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Sophia Calugay-Morita
Country Coordinator
Lian Sing & Monica Vivar
Creative Commissions Project Managers
Ma. Theresa Arigo, Ysabl Marie Dobles
Kevin Skinker, George Buid
Creative Commissions TeamGOSSAMER, a companion zine
to THE WALK-THROUGH
Zine designed & edited by Lian Sing
Exhibit set design by Monica Vivar
October 2019

IN COLLABORATION WITH

CONTENTS
Foreword

British Council x Fashion Revolution Global

Introduction

Artist Program Day 1 & 2Looking Back: Artist Program Day 3
Katherine Louise G. Moro

Transparency Is Not Nominal
Mikaela Olaguera

Garment Industry Disasters: Cases Against Labor Rights
Kirsten Ganzon

Clothing in a Capsule

Sheila Mae Naghisa Fuentes

Sewing Lessons: A Journey through Sustainability & Fashion
Lian Sing

3 Fashion Must-Haves that are Setting the Amazon on Fire
Kirsten Ganzon

Contributors

What is Fashion Revolution?
Fashion Revolution was born as a direct response to one of the worst humaninduced factory disasters in history — the Rana Plaza factory collapse on 24th
April 2013. Every year, there are accidents in fashion’s supply chains where
they could have been avoided when proper health and safety procedures
are implemented. We don’t want more people and the environment to suffer
because of the way our clothes are currently sourced, produced and purchased.
Fashion Revolution is a global movement that runs all year long. We arepeople from all around the world who make the fashion industry work. We
are the people who wear clothes. And we are the people who make them. We
are designers, academics, writers, business leaders, policymakers, brands,
retailers, marketers, producers, makers, workers and fashion lovers. We are
the industry and we are the public. We are world citizens. We are you.
Our vision is a fashion industry that values people, the environment, creativity
and profit in equal measure. Our mission is to unite people and organisations
to work together towards radically changing the way our clothes are sourced,
produced and consumed, so that our clothing is made in a safe, clean and fairway. We believe that collaborating across the whole value chain — from farmer
to consumer — is the only way to transform the industry.
It was in 2015 that the Philippines Country Coordinator Sophia Calugay started theinitiative to establish a Philippine team. With a Masters degree in AnthropologyArchaeology and an awareness of the global problem, she wanted to be part ofsomething that creates socio-cultural and economic change. She saw a video
shared by Zero Waste Scotland about Fashion Revolution and was inspired totake action.
As of today, Fashion Revolution Philippines is a SEC-registered NGO. We are stillin the process of establishing and strengthening the local chapter as the callfor a sustainable world — and thus a sustainable fashion industry — becomesincreasingly urgent.

A FOREWORD
British Council x Fashion Revolution Global
We are pleased to be supporting this first ever zine by Fashion Revolution
Philippines. The project forms part of Fashion Revolutionaries, a strategic
partnership between the British Council and Fashion Revolution which aims
to create positive change in the global fashion industry through international
collaboration. Drawing on our shared aims and our dedicated teams we areable to create truly unique scenarios and conversations within the context of
local fashion related networks. Working across policy, education and culture,
the partnership celebrates those who are creating a more sustainable fashion
future and empowers citizens to be more active in shaping it.
As part of Fashion Revolutionaries we were pleased to offer the Creative
Commissions Grant Scheme. Proposals were invited from Fashion Revolution
Country Coordinators to present original ideas to create outstanding,challenging and revolutionary events, installations, performances andartworks, to be staged in their local communities in partnership with local
cultural organisations in artists. Through collaboration with local arts sectors,
we sought projects which challenged the social and environmental issues
around sustainability and fashion. Fashion Revolution Philippines havedone exactly that through their project – bringing on board local artists andorganisations to explore challenges in fashion. Together, we are supporting,and hopefully progressing, the global conversations around the big issues
such as waste, raw materials, and systems change.
We believe that through arts and culture, change can be made and can act
as a catalyst to bring together diverse communities to exchange opinions,
techniques and inspiration and create solutions to global challenges. Bearing
witness to these projects and this exciting programming is what Fashion
Revolution is all about for us — the unstoppable power of people, united intheir commitment, to evolve the aspects of this global industry that no longer
serve us and to collectively re-invent the solutions and stories for the futureof fashion for all.
The British Council’s Architecture, Design and Fashion Team&
Jocelyn Whipple
Global Network Program and Content Manager
Fashion Revolution Founding Team member

Introduction
When the Fashion Revolution Philippines team began the first brainstorm sessions for ourCreative Commissions project back in November 2018, we imagined with nothing but enthusiasm and passion for the opportunity to engage local artists about the discourse on
sustainable fashion. Grand, captivating ideas were exchanged, forgetting at the moment therealities we would have to grapple with.
We navigated haphazardly but excitedly through digressions, but we always returned to thesame fundamental concerns: how do we talk about sustainable fashion to the everyday
consumer? How do we talk about this issue while grappling with the Philippines’ socio-economic realities? How can we take the discourse out of the circles it already exists in, andembed it in the greater contexts we move around in? How do we even translate sustainability
into Filipino?
To any of these questions, we had no answer. As a team, we were only volunteers with little
to no direct experience in the fashion industry. Some of us, like Monica and Tere, manage
their own sustainable fashion stores online, while the others are simply passionate about
the advocacy, eager to learn and do more. Kevin is the COO of Urban Greens, George is afreelance photographer, and I am a writer fresh out of college, armed with theory I longed
to apply into practice. Our Country Coordinator, Sophia Calugay-Morita, is a passionate spirit
who has worked with numerous local and international organizations on both a professionaland volunteer capacity. She has one of the biggest hearts that I know.
With only this dedication, we began to reach out — to designers, to retailers, to researchers,
to government offices, to NGOs, to artists. Engaging in dialogue with all these individuals andorganizations was the first step: we wanted to take the discourse on sustainable fashion further. There is an astounding wealth of information about the fashion and sustainability, butvery few were grounded in the contemporary Philippine context — at least, ones that wereaccessible. There is a gap in knowledge that we wanted to begin to fill, and when we began
to speak to industry stakeholders, we discovered that there isn’t a lack of knowledge at all. It
was simply a lack of connection. Scientists struggle to bring mainstream focus and attention on their research; artists are not always in touch with the material realities of the industry; farmers are not provided adequate support and infrastructure; retailers are trapped into
systems where cheap, unsustainable options are the only possibility; and consumers areunaware of the value of sustainable, local fashion.

In other words, the knowledge exists, but how do we bring it to where it matters?
What we arrived at, then, was to simply start making connections; to provide guideposts thatpeople can follow and explore themselves. We simply wanted to call attention to the fact thatthese complex problems exist — and so does the incredible potential for empowerment.
On a personal level, I took a keen interest in fashion when it became apparent to me that it
is an industry where everyone is a direct participant. Everyone either produces clothes, or
wears them. All global and issues intersect in invisible threads on a piece of garment, and I
found that it can be a compelling entrypoint into the grander conversations about economic, political, and cultural systems, about climate, about human rights. It is not abstract, it is
not something the everyday mallgoer has to imagine to comprehend. This is the rationale
behind choosing a mall as the venue for our project — we wanted to appropriate the space
where consumption takes place and transform it into the locus of cultural, economic, social,
and political connections that it really is.
Essentially, the exhibit that we ended up creating brings to light the threads that compose thefabric of the fashion industry in all its beauty and horror. We ask you now to walk with us, toponder, and ultimately, to ask and to act. There are too many questions and too many ways
we can begin with. We simply hope The Walk-Through inspires you to shatter the opacity
where collective silence and complicity is allowed to fester.
Lian Sing

Artist Program Day 1
Fashion Revolution Intensive
19 July 2019, WeWork RCBC Tower
Speakers:
Sophia Calugay-Morita (FRP Country Coordinator)
Carlo Delantar (Founder, ALTUM Concepts)
Whitney Bauck (Associate Editor, Fashionista)
photos by
George Buid

(L-R) Speakers
Carlo Delantar,
Whitney Bauck,and Sophia
Calugay-Morita

The FRP team andartists with the
WeWork teamArtist Program Day 2
Textile Forum 4.0: Opportunities for the Philippine
Textile & Garment Industry
Hosted by the Philippine Textile Research Institute
20 July 2019, World Trade Center
photos by
George Buid

The FRP team andartists with
the Philippine
Textile ResearchInstitute
Director Celia
Elumba, and theSecretary of
the Departmentof Science andTechnology,
Fortunato de laPena

Pam Quinto asking
the panelists aquestion

Looking Back: Artist Program Day 3
Katherine Louise G. Moro
Last July 21, Fashion Revolution culminated
The Walk-through: Artist Program witha gathering of artists, designers, andsustainability practitioners in Futur:st’s
intimate space for some pizza, wine andconversation on both the global and local
fashion landscape. Yet what ensued was a
discussion that went beyond fashion, but
one that also explored the deeper paradigms
that surround it, including the economics,
politics and philosophies behind theindustry.

Finding meaning in fashion
The industry that clothes our backs is often
one that people don’t put much thought to,
but for the 19 people sat together aroundseveral makeshift tables that Sunday,
fashion had taken on distinct meanings ineach of their lives.
Most of their relationships with fashion hadstemmed from its ability to act as extensionsof who they are and what they believe in.

For instance, Joseph Aloysius, a fashion
designer and sustainability consultant,talked about how fashion acted as a physicalmanifestation of both him and his clients’
dreams. “It’s all about that fantasy andromanticizing things, ideas and concepts.”
Meanwhile Jao San Pedro, another designer,
spoke about how fashion allowed him tobecome more comfortable with his identity
as a transwoman. “Fashion is my form ofactivism.” She adds, “It continues to define
who I am, and continues to give power tome.”Others appreciated fashion for its ability toconnect them with their roots. Tekla Tamorla,
one of the artists for the event, shared how
learning how to sew for one of her projects
had allowed her to learn more about her
grandmother who also used to sew. “Whilelearning, I relearned our history of ourfamily,” she says about the process. “I wasable to appreciate the craft of making yourown clothes.”
For some, fashion hit a sentimental note,

one that revolved around the memory
embedded in the pieces of clothing we wear.
“There will always be those memories that I
will keep with whatever it is I wear and use,”shares Pam, another artist.
But a common thread that stood out
among each of their responses were thecommunities they had found through theirshared interest in working towards a moresustainable fashion industry. “Its thesepockets of communities where these
discussions happen and where you canmake these connections that stick with me
and make me want to continue to be in thisindustry, and be hopeful for what’s to come,”
expresses Celine Mallari, a designer.
The state of the local apparel industry
The discussion opened up with the questionof the role of the Philippine industry in the
global fashion landscape.
“We have to know that the Philippines used
to be the producers of the best fashion
houses in Paris,” claims Aloysius. He shares

that back in the 70’s, Filipino craftsmanship,
which includes the garment industry, was atits best due to a government that supported
the arts.
His statement is made with theacknowledgment that this same government
was also mired in inequality and injustices,which Isola Rosa emphasizes. “Is it correctthat we support fascists and violence for thesake of the development of culture?”
Lian Sing, a Fashion Revolution country
member, acknowledges this complicity:“We’ve all participated and benefited from an
institution that has been oppressive, maybe
not directly to us, but to someone else.” Yet
she says we don’t have to remain complicit.
There are small acts of resistance that we
can and should do if we have the means.
She says, “We always have to evaluate where
we are and where we’re going. Fashion is notjust fashion, it is agriculture, it is labor, it isindustry.”It’s no secret that the garment industry
has often fallen short when it comes toethical labor practices, with its workers
reportedly experiencing exploitation, unsafe
working conditions, and a number of healthproblems. Then there’s the environmental
costs that come with producing garments,
which is known to be a high contributor towaste and pollution.
This has placed young designers like San
Pedro and Mallari in a weird space where
they’d like to work towards a more sustainableindustry without actually contributing to thecycle of production. “At the end of the day,you’re still producing,” San Pedro says withregards to running a sustainable line. But
Celine believes, “It comes down to being

conscious about whatever decision you(can) make. You can never be completely(sustainable) without fault, but you can affecta lot of things by being consistent in what
you believe in.”
The underlying forces surrounding thebusiness of fashion
The truth of the matter is there are bigger
forces that underlie and control the industry,
and if these systems don’t change than
the industry’s problems can never truly be
alleviated.
“The only way to change this entire system
is to change how businesses make money,”
Angela Chen expresses. “The underlying
problem is you’re selling a product tosomebody at the end of the day, even if it’s agood product.”
Currently, there are a number of start-ups
that aim to disrupt the system by developing
new business models. Take for instancecompanies that focus on leasing garments
instead of selling them as to prolong the life
cycle of garments.
Some companies also focus on building
quality products. One of the most popular
companies that has adopted this strategy
is Patagonia. In addition to creating clothes
that last, Patagonia also encourages its
customers to send in damaged clothing forfree repairs or recycling, instead of throwing
it out or purchasing new ones.
Yet these types of initiatives, while plausible,
are not always attainable by businesses,
especially when those with sustainablevisions often lack the resources to make ita reality.

Monica Vivar, owner of Denuo and Fashion
Revolution country member questions, “It
all sounds amazing, but how do we startin reference to what’s happening right now
in our industry, where we’re still trying todevelop technologies and develop policies.”
This struggle is all too familiar for Jaf
Fernandez, an artisan who runs a weaving
business in Aklan. Jaf’s vision has always
been to preserve the culture of weavingin his area through the promotion of
handwoven Filipino fabric. But he found thatat times he needed to sacrifice his advocacy
in order sustain his business and continue
supporting his weavers.
“If I continue fully working under myadvocacy, I can’t survive because most of
my clients will look for commercial fabric.
No one will buy Pina fabric every day,” Jafclaims. Yet he still tries to put his advocacy
first, with 90% of the textile he produces

being handwoven and only 10% beingcommercial textiles.
Chen agrees. “For every socially mindedperson, that’s the struggle - to find thebalance,” to continue working towards
creating social impact while still generatingjobs and keeping your workers in goodworking conditions. “In reality, what happens
is the 80/20 rule… So 20% of your time andresources are on the social impact stuff, but
that’s creating 80% of the impact. Than 80%
of your stuff is on the commercial stuff.”
To which, Zeus Bascon, an artist, questions
whether that’s the best we can do. “Is the80/20 solution the only way for us to tackle
sustainability?
The future of the industry
The conversation throughout the afternoon
was one that trajected into different angles

of the industry’s impact on its stakeholders,and our planet. And by the end of it, there
was an air of frustration over the lack of
viable solutions towards the problems that
seemed to plague the industry.
But while the discussion may have capped
off with a lack of resolve, each person in thetable now had a deeper understanding of
the implications that surround the industry
and how it has become inextricably linked
towards different aspects of our lives.

Sing remained hopeful over the dialoguethat took place that afternoon. “I think it’sa good sign that there’s a lot of frustration
around the room, because it’s a sign that
we’re trying to find a way to fight a systemthat is unjust and inhumane, and we’retrying to come up with solutions that don’t
exist.” She adds, “While now the 80/20 rule
is realistically the only way we can go about(sustainability), I also want to say that it isn’t
the only way.”Behind the cheap price tags lies the heavy
price to pay: human rights violation andenvironmental degradation (The True Cost,
2015). Brands who greenwash—mislead
consumers about the environmental
performance or the environmental benefitsof a product or service (Delmas & Burbano,2011)—are also guilty of the same crime.
For so long, the due responsibility forenvironmental protection has been ayoke passed on to the consumers. Green
consumerism has been around for decades
and sparked heated debates on its actual
impact on the environment, critics argue
that it is but a band aid solution to the
problematic framework of production andconsumption (Muldoon, 2006).
Since most of the key issues lie in the
production, radical change aimed to help theenvironment will be maximized if the shift tosustainable practices will be implemented
early on. Mainstream brands should
consider sustainability beyond a short-term
corporate social responsibility campaign.
It’s worth noting how Filipino fashion brands
founded in the tenets of sustainability arerising.
As we demand for minimal environmental
footprint, supply chain transparency, fairtrade, local sourcing, and consequently,
redesigning business models, may we keep
in mind that transparency is not nominal. Itspresence does not automatically equate tosustainability.
Currently, there is no authorized certification
program yet for sustainable fashion products
and services. Compared with organic goodsin the supermarket which bears stamp on
their packaging, it is harder to distinguishsustainable garments at first glance.
Relying on brands, we are bombarded

with sustainability claims but valuable
information on their manner of sustainability
is usually undisclosed.
But first, let’s recount the matters that birthed
this movement.
Behind cheap price tags
Fast fashion makes it possible to buy a shirt
which costs less than a venti frappe andpants with the price of a cinema ticket. You
get the quality that you paid for: they arebuilt not to last and so to fuel consumerism(Banz, 2015). This is the real story:
Unsafe working conditions. The death tollreached 1,134 in the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse,
an 8-storey building in Bangladesh housing
five garment factories catering to global fast
fashion brands (The New York Times, 2013).
Two years later, Kentex slipper factory in
Valenzuela, Philippines caught fire where 69
out of 72 dead workers were burned beyond
recognition (The Guardian, 2015).
Underpaid garment workers. Brands
outsource from other countries because
you guess it: cheap labor. In the Philippines,
garment and textile industry remains among
the top employers accounting for 20% to
30% of the manufacturing sector. It employs
an estimated 442,000 workers in garments
and 137,000 workers in textiles (Philippine
Statistics Authority, 2014).
Fragmented supply chains. According to
the Fashion Transparency Index 2018 whichinvestigated 150 global fashion brands,
majority of these brands and retailers do
not own their manufacturing facilities. Thisfragmented supply chain in the industry
blurs accountability. As labor is outsourced,
brands may evade the responsibility to trackworking conditions where their garments

are produced (Fashion Revolution, 2018).
In Western countries like Germany, 90% of
their clothes were produced in low-wagecountries, mainly in Asia (Banz, 2015). In
connection to this, the top five countries
where locally produced garments were
exported are United States, Japan, Germany,
South Korea, and Canada based from thedata of Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) as
processed by Board of Investments (BOI) in
2015.
Carbon emission. The past four years (2015,2016, 2017, and 2018) were the warmest years
recorded in history. While temperature is justa slice of the pie, climate change brought
devastating consequences on economies
and ecosystems which affected millions
of people around the world (United Nations,2019). It is linked to several industrial
practices including the emission of carbon
dioxide. The fashion industry is no exception.
Globally, the purchase and use of clothingaccounts for the release of about 550MtCO2
every year (The Carbon Trust, 2011).
Textile waste. As fast fashion brands still
go on with their problematic production
cycle when consumers started shifting
to sustainable options, cases on unsold
clothes arise (The New York Times, 2018) withsome brands being accused of deliberate
destruction of brand-new garments. Moreso, cheap low-quality clothes are designed
for people to dump and to buy again. These
clothes contribute to the ever-growing bulkof solid waste in landfills.
Water pollution. Among the stages of
production, turning raw fiber into finishedfabric produce the most environmental
impact. Processes like resizing, scouring,bleaching, dyeing, and printing involve lots ofchemicals. Some serve aesthetic purposes,some improve function; thus, some are
essential and unavoidable (Fletcher, 2008).
Not to mention the amount of pesticides ittakes to grow non-organic cotton.
Manner of transparency matters
In terms of environmental improvement,
transparency has significant outcomes
because sharper transparency boosts
sustainability of chains and empowers
consumers and civil society (Mol, 2015).
Though the apparel sector shown a strong
momentum in the disclosure of supply chain
information, this momentum “resulted intransparency being sometimes held up as auniversal remedy, without proper agreementon what it means, or with evidence of
positive outcomes for workers” involved in
the fashion industry (Coultier, 2018).
Transparency and accountability are indeed
closely linked concepts. Fox (2010) argued
that transparency can either be clear or
opaque while accountability can either besoft or hard.
In the case of 150 largest global fashion
brands in the US, Europe, and Asia, almost
half of them (46%) disclose information
related to policies and commitments morethan actual practices and impacts. In addition
to this, the traceability indicators scored just
11% on average (Fashion Revolution, 2018).
On tracking the online disclosure of key
information about sustainability, taking
the Four Facets of Transparency (Hosseini
et. al., 2016) can serve as a guide whenmerged with the framework of sustainablefashion design. It advocates for meaningful
data, process, and policy transparency with
uncompromising quality that are presented

in a useful manner.Altogether, transparency
that elaborates on sourcing materials,
production methods, fabric treatment, to thegrassroot applications of sustainability is thetransparency we need.
References
Banz, C. (2015). Fast Fashion: The Dark Sides of Fashion.
In Fast Fashion (pp. 10-15). Museum fur Kunst undGewerbe Hamburg.
Board of Investments. (2016, February 28). Garments andTextile Industry Brief. Retrieved from Board of Investments:
http://www.boi.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/
Garments-and-Textile-Industry-Brief.pdf
Coultier, D. (2018). The Business Case for More
Transparency. Fashion Transparency Index 2018, p. 12.
Delmas, M. A., & Burbano, V. C. (2011). The Drivers ofGreenwashing. California Management Review, 54(1), 64-87.
Fashion Revolution. (2018). Fashion Transparency Index.
London.
Fletcher, K. (2008). Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design
Journeys. London: Earthscan.
Fox, J. (2010). The Uncertain Relationship between
Transparency and Accountability. Development in Practice,663-671.
Hosseini, M., Phalp, K., Shahri, A., & Ali, R. (2016).
Foundations
forTransparency
Requirements
Engineering. International Working Conference on
Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality,(pp. 225-231). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30282-9_15
Mol, A. P. (2015). Transparency and value chain
sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 154-161.
Morgan, A. (Director). (2015). The True Cost [Motion Picture].
Paton, E. (2018, March 27). H&M, a Fashion Giant, Has a
Problem: $4.3 Billion in Unsold Clothes. Retrieved from The
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/
business/hm-clothes-stock-sales.html
Pietropaoli, I. (2015, June 8). Philippines factory fire: 72
workers need not have died. Retrieved from The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-developmentprofessionals-network/2015/jun/08/philippinesfactory-fire-72-workers-unions-human-rights
The Carbon Trust. (2011). International Carbon Flows:
Clothing. England and Wales.
United Nations. (2019, February 6). Guterres underlines
climate action urgency, as UN weather agency confirms
record global warming. Retrieved from UN News: https://
news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1032121
Yardley, J. (2013, May 22). Report on Deadly Factory Collapse
in Bangladesh Finds Widespread Blame. Retrieved from The
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/
world/asia/report-on-bangladesh-building-collapsefinds-widespread-blame.html

GARMENT INDUSTRY DISASTERS
Cases Against Labor Rights
by Kirsten Ganzon

Despite the continuous push for labor rights andsafer work environments, this decade has seensome of the largest garment industry disasters
on global record, all of which could have been
prevented with proper implementation andregulation of legal health and safety measures.

Ali Enterprises Fire
(11 September 2012, Pakistan)
The fire that ravaged the textile factorycomplex in the commercial hub of Karachi isconsidered to be Pakistan’s worst industrial
accident, killing almost 300 workers trappedbehind locked doors. A few hours earlier, ashoe factory in the eastern city of Lahore
had killed at least 25. Officials would later
describe the factory as a death trap, withmost of the deaths to be blamed on the factthat they had very few options of escape: allexits except for one had been locked, withmost windows barred. Desperate, many
workers were also seriously injured or killed
by jumping off the top floors of the fourstory building. The horrible accident begana long fight for compensation and justicefor workers, as well as a call to address thefailures of corporate social auditing.
Tazreen Factory Fire
(24 November 2012, Bangladesh)
Two months after the Ali Enterprises Fire,
another fire broke out in the Tazreen Fashions
garment factory in Bangladesh, causing overa hundred workers to sustain serious backand head injuries jumping from the windowsof the third and fourth floors. Like the Ali
Enterprises Fire, the exits to the outside were
locked, leaving the workers trapped in thebuilding. Since the lower floor windows werebarred , the only way out was through thewindows on the upper floors. One survivor
described flames already filling two of thethree stairwells of the nine-floor building
shortly after the fire alarm had been raised,with rooms full of female workers cut off aspiles of yarn and fabric filling the corridors

caught on fire. There are reports that alsosuggest that the fire exits at the site hadlocks on, which needed to be broken in orderfor the staff to escape. In 2015, the familiesof those killed and injured are still fighting
for compensation for the loss of their loved
ones or the loss of their own ability to earn
an income.
Rana Plaza Collapse(24 April 2013, Bangladesh)
A year later, the Rana Plaza building
collapsed in Bangladesh, killing over 1,100
garment workers and injuring more than
2,000. This disaster, along with Pakistan’s Ali
Enterprises factory and Tazreen Fashions
factory, were among the worst industrial
accidents on record, and brought attention
to the poor labor conditions suffered by
the workers in the ready-made garment
sector in Bangladesh. These conditions
and accidents, however, are common.
Most of the factories in the industry do notmeet standards required by building andconstruction legislation. Moreover, people
who work in this industry -- mostly girls andwomen -- have some of the lowest wages
in the world, and are exposed everyday
to unsafe work environments with highincidence of work-related accidents anddeaths, as well as occupational diseases.
Kentex Fire
(13 May 2015, Philippines)
The conditions at the Kentex Manufacturing
facility in Valenzuela are similar to theearlier three disasters, ultimately resulting
in 74 deaths during the fire and many moreinjured. The factory was considered a deathtrap by the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights, Institute for Occupational Healthand Safety Development, and the trade union Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), with the factorycompound lacking basic fire alarms and fire exits. There were only two gates, one for people
and the other for delivery trucks, and most factory windows were covered with steel grills
and chicken wire. When the fire started, many struggled to escape by breaking sealed
windows, while a few jumped from the second floor and some scaled the walls because of
the trucks that were blocking their path. Despite authorities claiming that Kentex compliedwith safety regulations, workers were reportedly paid below minimum wage, worked halfday shifts, and faced toxic fumes without proper protective gear inside poorly ventilated andsweltering factories. Kentex also used illegal subcontractors. Many workers were hired asagency contractors, who reported having their social and health benefit payments withheld,
and others were pieceworkers, with no steady wage, no contract, and 12-hour days.
All of these tragedies have also occurred in countries known to be the main sources ofglobal garment industry outsourcing: Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Philippines. In less than
three years, these disasters have resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,600 garment
workers, and attention should be focused not only on the governments of these producing

countries -- who are primarily responsible
for the working conditions and labor law
compliance in these factories -- but also on
the global apparel and footwear companies
and brands that source from these factories.
The biggest issue for these factories,
then, is transparency. Though nonbinding, global companies and brands
have the responsibility to make sure thatthe rights of workers are respected all
throughout their supply chain, according tointernational standards. And the first stepis to be transparent with all supplier factory
information. According to the Human Rights
Watch 2018 World Report, many sweatshop
workers suffering under labor rights abuses
couldn’t report, mainly because they do notknow which global brand or company they aremaking products for. Moreover, corporatecontrolled social auditing programs havealso contributed to a global garment industry
based on underpaid and disposable workers
subjected to abusive working conditions.
According to the International Labor Rights
Forum, many companies use CSR programs
to claim responsible treatment of workers
in the supply chain, while shifting thelegal responsibility for workers’ safety andwelfare to contractor factories and local
governments.
In the end, these disasters serve as reminders
that, as much as we try to individuallypractice and source clothing through ethicaland sustainable ways, labor rights abuses -culminating in horrible deadly events -- willcontinue to occur as long as governments
and global garment brands/companies turna blind eye and evade accountability.

References
Bunting, Madeleine. “Sweatshops are still supplying
high street brands.” The Guardian, 28 April 2011. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/povertymatters/2011/apr/28/sweatshops-supplying-highstreet-brands
Burke, Jason. “Bangladesh textile factory fire leaves
more than 100 dead.” The Guardian, 25 November 2012.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/25/
bangladesh-textile-factory-fireChen, Michelle. “Why the Philippines’ Deadly Factory
Fire Will Not be the Last.” The Nation, 26 May 2015. https://www.thenation.com/article/why-philippines-deadlyfactory-fire-will-not-be-last/Clean Clothes Campaign. “Justice for the Ali Enterprises
victims.” Cleanclothes.org, n.d. https://cleanclothes.org/
campaigns/past/ali-enterprises
Clean Clothes Campaign. “Tazreen fire: fight forcompensation.”
Cleanclothes.org,
n.d.
https://
cleanclothes.org/campaigns/past/tazreen
International Labour Organization. “The Rana Plaza
Accident and its aftermath.” Ilo.org, n.d. https://www.ilo.
org/global/topics/geip/WCMS_614394/lang--en/index.
htm
International Labor Rights Forum. “Sweatshops are thenorm in the global apparel industry. We’re standing up
to change that.” Industries: Sweatfree communities, n.d.
https://laborrights.org/industries/apparel
Stauffer, Brian. “‘Soon There Won’t be Too Much to Hide’:Transparency in the Apparel Industry.” Human Rights
Watch, 2018. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/
essay/transparency-in-apparel-industry
ur-Rehman, Zia; Walsh, Declan; Masood, Salman. “Morethan 300 killed in Pakistani Factory Fires.” The New
York Times, 12 September 2012. https://www.nytimes.
com/2012/09/13/world/asia/hundreds-die-in-factoryfires-in-pakistan.html

A capsule wardrobe is a limited,curated collection of clothing, shoes,
and accessories that can help you livewith simplicity while reducing decision
fatigue.

clothing in a capsuleby Sheila Mae Naghisa Fuentes

1

EVALUATE YOUR LIFESTYLE

4

How do you want to express
yourself through your style(personal branding)? What daily
routine will heavily affect yourstyle?
2

IDENTIFY YOURSTYLE / AESTHETIC
I bet you already know what
colors, styles, prints, silhouettes,
fit are you comfortable withor will look best on you & yourbody type. You may create an
inspiration board/album using
Pinterest, or other platforms tohelp you visualize. You may startworking from here.

3

CHECK OUT YOUR
CURRENT WARDROBE
See what items you currently
have and sort. Choose pieces
which can keep that still matchyour lifestyle and your own
identified style. Determine also
what you will do with the rejected
ones - you may sell, donate tocharity or your friends/relatives.
Please don’t throw them away.

CREATE A CHECKLISTMatch your sorted pieces withyour inspiration board/album.
Check items you already haveand determine what needs tobe updated or purchased (only if
you really need to).

5

HAVE A LIST OF GO-TOSUSTAINABLE BRANDS
if you need to buy and overhaul
your wardrobe, look for brands(preferably local) that offers
sustainably made pieces. You
may also consider buying preloved items.

6

CREATE YOUR OWN“LOOK BOOK”
Because why not? Create
several looks out of your capsulewardrobe and document them
via photo or video! Sort of making
your digital closet? It’s gonna bevery useful right? You can easily
track what you already have andsee how can you improve yourwardrobe even better.

Still intimidated by switching
to sustainable?
The Fashion Revolution PH
community shares more tips &insights on how to startI always apply my style philosophies:#alwaysbechic and #rotateandrepeat,a campaign to create a wardrobe
capsule. My closet is a collection of
wearable and flexible clothing boughtfrom thrift stores. They are in colors I
that like and that works together. My
wardrobe has been consciously curated
so it can go beyond trends.

Miss Kayce, professional
fashion stylist &wardrobe coach

Building a sustainable closet has
recently become a goal of mine,and one way I’ve been doing this isborrowing old clothing from my mother.
These classic, timeless pieces are stillin great condition even after years,
which shows just how important quality
is over quantity.
I am creating a sustainable closet bybuying less, joining a swap insteadof buying new and choosing to buy
second-hand clothes. I practicemending my clothes when needed andrepurpose them as much as I can in
the end of their intended use. By taking
good care of the clothes I have, I know
they will last me a long time.

Marie Fortuno

Tere Arigo, founderof teeforelSewing Lessons:
A Journey through Sustainability & Fashion
words by Lian Sing
photos by Daniel del Rosario

“I was exposed to [fashion]
because my mama liked to dress
a lot, and had a nice sense ofstyle.”

Throughout the many months we’ve been building up this project, I’ve spoken to numerous
people in my personal and professional circles about the movement for sustainable fashionthat I have recently gotten myself into, and the exhibit I was organizing in line with it. In
life’s funny way of making things fall into place, one of the people I talked to mentioned a
project by a 16-year-old girl that explored exactly what the Fashion Revolution Philippines
team sought out to do with the exhibit. So, during a brief visit to Iloilo, I got introduced to
Justine Gangoso, then a high school student whose Senior Project — a final requirement
for graduation at Gamot Cogon School — was a fashion show featuring upcycled clothing
created for and modeled by her classmates.
For the show, she created 13 pieces which she based on her classmates’ likes andpersonalities. Starting from scratch, she taught herself the basics of sewing under theguidance of her project mentor. One highlight from her paper, which served as supplementarymaterial to the fashion show, is when she reports that sewing together retasos (excess fabric)
into a piece only 10 x 11 inches in size took her 2-3 hours already. (This reminds me of Anne
Boyer who writes, “Sewing is difficult. There is a reason girls were trained in it before they
were trained in anything else, years and years spent at practice, and even then they might
not have been any good.”) The abundance of clothes around us and the speed in which
new garments emerge efface the labor that actually goes into every garment, and Justine’s
realization about the difficulty of sewing directs a focus on this very labor. A perfect seam,
like any craft, has years of training behind it.
Justine’s project, together with the paper detailing her methodology and reflections,captures her personal navigation through the opaque world of fashion. It was a delight totrack her creative and intellectual discoveries as she stumbled into questions she pursued
with genuine curiosity — What are the basic steps to make a shirt and how do I make a patterndesign? How are clothes made and how much do they cost? How do you make use of your old clothes,and are there any eco-friendly brands around? In seeking answers to these simple questions,she came to learn not just the basic know-how about clothing, but also the environmental
and humanitarian issues behind the industry. As she learns and points out, “the textile
industry is characterized by its high use of water, fuel, and a variety of chemicals in the
production of clothes.” This discovery, dissected in depth by scholars and institutions, allstemmed from the simple fact that she just enjoys fashion: “Fashion was always a positive
thing for me. Fashion is my happy pill.” She derives joy from it, and there’s profundity in thissimplicity that I think we tend to overlook. It is from this simple pleasure that she began aninvestigation, which I like to think proves the potency of joy as a tool for action. Even in thephotos she generously shared with me, a spirit of fun and lightness is evident on the facesof her classmates dressed in the colorful handmade garments that carried with them theindelible mark of Justine’s labor and creativity.

Justine’s project is a necessary reminder of a couple of very valuable ideas. The firstis that fashion is an emotional experience: it can be a source of happiness, of pride, of
empowerment. It connects us to people, to our mothers and grandmothers, to friends weswap clothes with — or to classmates we create clothes for, as in Justine’s case. In theact of taking measurements and tailoring garments to specific personalities, she bonded
more with her classmates in a project that isn’t just thought-provoking, but also incrediblycelebratory. Fashion, like language, is another thing that ties us together, and no one would
call language frivolous.
The other lesson is that learning is a perpetual process that we must allow ourselves toexperience with fullness. Justine’s paper reveals the challenges she encountered, and thesolutions she crafted with varying levels of meticulousness. I find it valuable to glimpse
behind the scenes of any endeavor — and that’s why I wanted to feature Justine’s fantastic
project in this zine — as it reminds me that numerous little triumphs and failures scaffold theoutput we gaze in awe at. In a cultural climate that hails static images of success — photos ofaccolades, glamorous vacations — it is easy to forget that we always arrive in steps. Learningwith fullness is accepting that by the end of it, upon our arrival at a chosen finish line, we
are made more whole without reaching completeness. By the end of her endeavor, Justineis changed, but like us, she has endless paths of learning she can continue to pursue. And
that’s all this really is.

“This project changed my perspective about the clothes
I wear. I became more conscious about buying new
clothes because even though you still have a lot ofclothes that are still good, you are contributing to
the waste we produce at the moment.”

3 FASHION MUST-HAVES		that are Setting the Amazon on Fire

by Kirsten Ganzon

Leather

The cattle industry is one of the main reasons the Amazon rainforest is being
incinerated. While this is due to the high demand on beef worldwide, Greenpeace’s
2009 report, “Slaughtering the Amazon,” state that the demand for leather is as
much of a driving force behind the destruction of the Amazon. Many leading global
fashion brands and retailers source Brazilian beef companies through a murky
supply chain, with the whole venture supported by state-funded banks. However, thefashion industry’s complacency is as much to blame as the illegal cattle businesses
and Brazilian government. The global production of footwear accounts for 55% of allleather production in 2018, with many big labels and companies remaining vague
about their supply chains, let alone if these were committing to zero deforestation.

Rayon and Viscose (Plant-pulp)

Many of our clothes are plant-based, and while that might sound eco-friendly(presented as alternatives to plastics like polyester or nylon), many of the common
ones that make up our shirts, pants, and shoes (viscose, rayon, modal and lyocell),are big contributors to global deforestation. Research from the forest campaign
group Canopy state that more than 150 million trees are logged every year to beturned into cellulosic fabric, many of which are trees from ancient and endangered
forests. In addition to that, the dissolving pulp (which is the base material for rayonand viscose) wastes around 70% of the tree, as well as being a chemically intensive
manufacturing process. These dissolving pulp mills are located all over the world,with the most controversial ones sourcing their trees from Canada’s boreal forest,
Indonesia’s ancient rainforest, and the Amazon.

CottonWith half of all textiles coming from cotton, the global demand and mass productionof cotton becomes a huge problem when it’s one of the biggest culprits behind
land clearing. Moreover, as a hugely water intensive crop (with the production of one
shirt using up to 2,700 liters of water), the cotton industry has caused not only theclearing of forests for farming, but also the draining and poisoning of many bodies
of water, such as the Aral Sea in Central Asia, the Indus Delta in Pakistan, and the
Murray Darling River in Austrialia. Many of these bodies of water are what keeps thesurrounding forests alive, and combined with extensive land clearing and use ofharmful fertilizers and pesticides lead to the complete destruction of these forests,
and little chance of its revival due to soil degradation.
Sources/Further Reading
Andrews, Betsy. “What is ‘Rainforest-Free’ Clothing, and Why Should You Care?”. Racked,
16 March 2017. Retrieved from https://www.racked.com/2017/3/16/14938354/fashionsustainability-rainforest-free-clothing.
Canopy. “Campaigns: CanopyStyle.” canopyplanet.org, n.d. Retrieved from https://canopyplanet.
org/campaigns/canopystyle/
Cernansky, Rachel. “Is footwear funding the burning of the Amazon?”. Vogue Business, 28
August 2019. Retrieved from https://www.voguebusiness.com/companies/amazon-firesfootwear-leather-sustainability.
Hill, Madeleine. “Fashion’s Footprint in Our Forests.” Good On You, 08 Apr 2019. Retrieved fromhttps://goodonyou.eco/fashions-footprint-forests/
Hoskins, Tansy. “Cotton production linked to images of the dried up Aral Sea basin.” The
Guardian, 1 Oct 2014. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-blog/2014/oct/01/cotton-production-linked-to-images-of-the-driedup-aral-sea-basin.
Siegle, Lucy. “Burning issue: how fashion’s love for leather is fuelling the fires in the Amazon.”
The Guardian, 24 Aug 2019. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/
aug/29/burning-issue-how-fashions-love-of-leather-is-fuelling-the-fires-in-theamazon.
Wicker, Alden. “Your Clothes Might be Destroying the Rainforest.” Fast Company, 09 June
2017. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/40448774/your-clothes-might-bedestroying-the-rainforest.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF). “Sustainable Agriculture: Cotton.” worldwildlife.org, n.d. Retrieved
from https://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/cotton.

Contributors
Fashion Revolution Philippines thanks
the kind support of the following
individuals who helped bring ourCreative Commissions project to life.
Keziah Mateo
Elijah Renmer Laderas
Adam Lee John Sison
Samm Kylix Sison
Felipe Mateo Jr.
Florentina Mateo
Christopher Mateo
Jelly Mae Moring
Andrea Ysabel Mateo
Adriyel Fenrick Mateo
Ma. Theresa Arigo & Teeforel
Eleni Reynera
Buena Sawit
Sheila Mae Naghisa Fuentes
Kc Leyco Mempin
Genevieve Sagcal

Referring to very light, sheer fabric,or spider silk, GOSSAMER evokes the ideaof transparency, which the zine aims
to bring in the context of the fashionindustry. In calling to mind the imageof the spider silk, the zine also sheds
light on the strength, fragility, andbeauty of the relationships that bind
us together because of and throughfashion, giving emphasis on the senseof community and collaboration crucial
to addressing the systemic issues.