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The author next to Magallanes Street graffiti that prompts a reflection on fashion. Photo by Bebs Gohetia.
Jesse Boga Madriaga is a journalism-trained writer in the Philippines who has worked extensively in news and lifestyle media, public relations, and science communication. He contributes stories to the Mindanao Times, Mindanews and the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Jesse is a 2023 fellow of the Next Gen Assembly, an advocacy program led by non‐profit organization Global Fashion Agenda and Fashion Values, a sustainability education program developed by the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at the UAL-London College of Fashion. He is currently pursuing an MA in communication at the University of Mindanao. As a member of the Global Shapers Community (World Economic Forum), Jesse takes leadership roles in convening youth and communities for inclusive conversations about sustainability. He believes in the power of writing and creating storytelling-centered platforms to achieve global goals. He is the convenor of the Unstitch: Sustainable Fashion Forum.
"People are starving but you're still a fashionista," reads some graffiti on an old steel rollup door on Magallanes Street. It appears to be inspired by a 2007 album by Filipino jazz rock band Radioactive Sago Project called Tangina Mo Andaming Nagugutom sa Mundo Fashionista Ka Pa Rin.The intention of the message is clear: we cannot afford to be delusional, playing dress up when there are starving people out there.
I get that the message draws our attention to the long list of harsh realities faced by the Philippines: poverty, hunger, inequality, lack of education, etc. It juxtaposes this with an understanding of fashion centered on consumerism. And frivolity. To an extent, the perception of fashion as frivolous is perfectly valid because for the longest time, frivolity defined most consumer participation in mainstream fashion that is visible to the public. It is true that for some, the experience of fashion mainly revolved around consumption: obsessing over what is new; queueing for the latest hyped-up sneakers in malls; normalizing the culture of budol (succumbing to an unnecessary purchase for the sake of a good deal); or planning for year-round double-digit sales.
The common conversation about fashion in marketing and media has by and large been about the kaartehan (finickiness or pretentiousness) of things. This sad state of the public’s fashion discourse is often attributed to apathy because, on most days, we find it difficult to see fashion's connection with a developing country’s challenges. The fashion industry’s structure, which is run to a significant extent by big brands, sets a tone for consumption and aims to deafen us towards anything beyond "fashionista" consumption messages. I, too, feel the disconnect in many ways. I live and work in Davao City, south of the Philippines and thousands of miles away from Bangladesh, where the Rana Plaza collapse happened in 2013. I feel uninvolved with the cotton farmer suicides in India and worlds apart from Kantamanto Market in Ghana, a destination for discarded clothing from the Global North. Making sense of fashion and sustainability is difficult but much needed—especially because the Philippines is particularly vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis.
My MA in communication thesis, of which this writing is an excerpt, captures a snapshot of the Filipino landscape by examining how communication can aid the creation of sustainable fashion messages in my own city, hence sharing a meaningful understanding of sustainability through the language that we speak. The Centre for Sustainable Fashion framework [1] allows me to narrow down my examination and interview questions on the ecological agenda, which focuses on our relationship with nature. It discusses sustainable fashion in the context of planetary boundaries that measures a safe operating space for humanity. The same framework acknowledges that human action on Earth affects nature and living conditions.
The purpose of this effort is to bring sustainable fashion conversations beyond their confines, into mainstream consciousness. This endeavor also seeks to highlight the idea that we all play a part in the journey to finding solutions for fashion and sustainability through our actions. I start by painting a picture of the sustainable fashion landscape in the Philippines. I then go over the important insights shared by my research participants who are key players in fashion and intersecting fields. Their inputs show what success looks like in communicating sustainable fashion.
![]()
Sustainable fashion communication has to show malasakit (empathy) and be founded on the idea that Filipinos will naturally gravitate towards the good. Photo by Timewrap Film Productions for the Global Shapers Davao Hub.
No free size for sustainability
Global conversations about sustainability in the past years have provided a deluge of information about sustainable fashion easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. However, many discussions in the Global North tend to provide inequitable cookie-cutter recommendations that do not consider the cultural nuances of Southeast Asia.
Traditional techniques for washing textiles by hand, for example, easily trump the fancy anti-microfiber-shedding technologies that are being branded as "innovations'' in the West. Climate activist and storyteller Aditi Mayer emphasized this point succinctly when she said that the much-needed change in the fashion system today can also mean following the leads of cultures that have embodied sustainability for the longest time.
This is easier said than done. Sustainability is not black and white. Dominant ideas of fashion continue to be founded on the idea of novelty and overconsumption. Fashion’s agenda and linear business models continue to exploit our natural resources and our evolutionary heritage for profit. Fashion production takes up large amounts of water and agriculture. Retail messages hook us to keep buying reinvented “wardrobe staples.” Because our brains are wired to notice what’s new, we feel vulnerable going into the world without possessions, and we naturally respond to scarcity. [2] [3]
Communication enables a sense of clarity in all of this and storytelling helps us make sense of the elaborate web of things that surround us. Creating narratives helps us identify problems and shape solutions. [4] Developing countries like the Philippines may find difficulty in creating a shared understanding of sustainability because of two things: the scope of sustainability is vast and there is an absence of interventions that support sustainability efforts through effective media communication. There is a wealth of information about sustainability that talks about the threat of climate change and environmental degradation, yet this is not communicated well enough to the public. As a result, many people continue with unsustainable habits and activities. [5] Without communication efforts that create a shared understanding about fashion and redirect lifestyles towards already existing sustainable practices, Filipino consumers instead go down a path heeding the call of consumption-driven messages from across media platforms. This is evident in the way that we participate in sale events. Language has also reflected the consumption culture by normalizing the word budol, brandishing it in marketing campaigns that use humor to dismiss etymology relating to swindling or being victim to a scam. In conversations, proclamations such as “nabudol ako sa sale” (I was scammed by the sale) is a fun and a light way to refer to enjoying good shopping finds.
Defining sustainability is a challenging task. The concept is often criticized as too broad or flexible, and this results in a great deal of uncertainty among the public. Due to the evolving and fluid definition of sustainability, it is unclear how the general public views it and whether their perspectives align with those of policy and decision makers. It is a phrase that now means various things to various people, and this holds true in the Philippines. [6] This uncertainty about sustainability's definition hounds Filipino consumers and it causes difficulties for them in making informed choices in the market or identifying genuine sustainable practices in the community. Sustenibilidad and likas-kaya are words often used to refer to sustainability in the Filipino language but these aren’t commonly used in daily conversation. These nuances are especially important considering that the Philippines has a strong shopping mall culture where commercial centers have evolved to become cathedrals of consumption, spaces for escaping extreme tropical heat, and places of convergence for dining, social, and leisure experiences and services. [7]
A gap in perspectives among policymakers and the public also gets in the way of fully realizing equitable sustainable fashion environments, such as revisiting the Republic Act No. 4653, an outdated law that prohibits the importation of textile articles in the country. Born out of this is the continuing journey of secondhand clothing imports (from South Korea, Japan, China, United States of America, and Malaysia) and the Philippines’ complex relationship with this used apparel. [8] They fuel local ukay-ukay (thrifting) shop livelihoods but they are symptoms of a global fashion waste problem. Policies might not resonate with consumer needs if these do not address the understanding of sustainability in the first place.
Although my process focused on questions that sought the best message and medium for sustainable fashion, over time, I also learned that I was indirectly asking a question about how to make the answer meaningful, relevant, and relatable. With the country already dealing with development stressors in education, health, economy, food, and the environment, how can a fashion conversation fit in with ease?
I get that the message draws our attention to the long list of harsh realities faced by the Philippines: poverty, hunger, inequality, lack of education, etc. It juxtaposes this with an understanding of fashion centered on consumerism. And frivolity. To an extent, the perception of fashion as frivolous is perfectly valid because for the longest time, frivolity defined most consumer participation in mainstream fashion that is visible to the public. It is true that for some, the experience of fashion mainly revolved around consumption: obsessing over what is new; queueing for the latest hyped-up sneakers in malls; normalizing the culture of budol (succumbing to an unnecessary purchase for the sake of a good deal); or planning for year-round double-digit sales.
The common conversation about fashion in marketing and media has by and large been about the kaartehan (finickiness or pretentiousness) of things. This sad state of the public’s fashion discourse is often attributed to apathy because, on most days, we find it difficult to see fashion's connection with a developing country’s challenges. The fashion industry’s structure, which is run to a significant extent by big brands, sets a tone for consumption and aims to deafen us towards anything beyond "fashionista" consumption messages. I, too, feel the disconnect in many ways. I live and work in Davao City, south of the Philippines and thousands of miles away from Bangladesh, where the Rana Plaza collapse happened in 2013. I feel uninvolved with the cotton farmer suicides in India and worlds apart from Kantamanto Market in Ghana, a destination for discarded clothing from the Global North. Making sense of fashion and sustainability is difficult but much needed—especially because the Philippines is particularly vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis.
My MA in communication thesis, of which this writing is an excerpt, captures a snapshot of the Filipino landscape by examining how communication can aid the creation of sustainable fashion messages in my own city, hence sharing a meaningful understanding of sustainability through the language that we speak. The Centre for Sustainable Fashion framework [1] allows me to narrow down my examination and interview questions on the ecological agenda, which focuses on our relationship with nature. It discusses sustainable fashion in the context of planetary boundaries that measures a safe operating space for humanity. The same framework acknowledges that human action on Earth affects nature and living conditions.
The purpose of this effort is to bring sustainable fashion conversations beyond their confines, into mainstream consciousness. This endeavor also seeks to highlight the idea that we all play a part in the journey to finding solutions for fashion and sustainability through our actions. I start by painting a picture of the sustainable fashion landscape in the Philippines. I then go over the important insights shared by my research participants who are key players in fashion and intersecting fields. Their inputs show what success looks like in communicating sustainable fashion.
Sustainable fashion communication has to show malasakit (empathy) and be founded on the idea that Filipinos will naturally gravitate towards the good. Photo by Timewrap Film Productions for the Global Shapers Davao Hub.No free size for sustainability
Global conversations about sustainability in the past years have provided a deluge of information about sustainable fashion easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. However, many discussions in the Global North tend to provide inequitable cookie-cutter recommendations that do not consider the cultural nuances of Southeast Asia.
Traditional techniques for washing textiles by hand, for example, easily trump the fancy anti-microfiber-shedding technologies that are being branded as "innovations'' in the West. Climate activist and storyteller Aditi Mayer emphasized this point succinctly when she said that the much-needed change in the fashion system today can also mean following the leads of cultures that have embodied sustainability for the longest time.
This is easier said than done. Sustainability is not black and white. Dominant ideas of fashion continue to be founded on the idea of novelty and overconsumption. Fashion’s agenda and linear business models continue to exploit our natural resources and our evolutionary heritage for profit. Fashion production takes up large amounts of water and agriculture. Retail messages hook us to keep buying reinvented “wardrobe staples.” Because our brains are wired to notice what’s new, we feel vulnerable going into the world without possessions, and we naturally respond to scarcity. [2] [3]
Communication enables a sense of clarity in all of this and storytelling helps us make sense of the elaborate web of things that surround us. Creating narratives helps us identify problems and shape solutions. [4] Developing countries like the Philippines may find difficulty in creating a shared understanding of sustainability because of two things: the scope of sustainability is vast and there is an absence of interventions that support sustainability efforts through effective media communication. There is a wealth of information about sustainability that talks about the threat of climate change and environmental degradation, yet this is not communicated well enough to the public. As a result, many people continue with unsustainable habits and activities. [5] Without communication efforts that create a shared understanding about fashion and redirect lifestyles towards already existing sustainable practices, Filipino consumers instead go down a path heeding the call of consumption-driven messages from across media platforms. This is evident in the way that we participate in sale events. Language has also reflected the consumption culture by normalizing the word budol, brandishing it in marketing campaigns that use humor to dismiss etymology relating to swindling or being victim to a scam. In conversations, proclamations such as “nabudol ako sa sale” (I was scammed by the sale) is a fun and a light way to refer to enjoying good shopping finds.
Defining sustainability is a challenging task. The concept is often criticized as too broad or flexible, and this results in a great deal of uncertainty among the public. Due to the evolving and fluid definition of sustainability, it is unclear how the general public views it and whether their perspectives align with those of policy and decision makers. It is a phrase that now means various things to various people, and this holds true in the Philippines. [6] This uncertainty about sustainability's definition hounds Filipino consumers and it causes difficulties for them in making informed choices in the market or identifying genuine sustainable practices in the community. Sustenibilidad and likas-kaya are words often used to refer to sustainability in the Filipino language but these aren’t commonly used in daily conversation. These nuances are especially important considering that the Philippines has a strong shopping mall culture where commercial centers have evolved to become cathedrals of consumption, spaces for escaping extreme tropical heat, and places of convergence for dining, social, and leisure experiences and services. [7]
A gap in perspectives among policymakers and the public also gets in the way of fully realizing equitable sustainable fashion environments, such as revisiting the Republic Act No. 4653, an outdated law that prohibits the importation of textile articles in the country. Born out of this is the continuing journey of secondhand clothing imports (from South Korea, Japan, China, United States of America, and Malaysia) and the Philippines’ complex relationship with this used apparel. [8] They fuel local ukay-ukay (thrifting) shop livelihoods but they are symptoms of a global fashion waste problem. Policies might not resonate with consumer needs if these do not address the understanding of sustainability in the first place.
Although my process focused on questions that sought the best message and medium for sustainable fashion, over time, I also learned that I was indirectly asking a question about how to make the answer meaningful, relevant, and relatable. With the country already dealing with development stressors in education, health, economy, food, and the environment, how can a fashion conversation fit in with ease?
Top: Existing sustainable fashion practices of Filipinos like shopping secondhand goods in ukay-ukay stores and popups point to resourcefulness and the spirit of bayanihan (unity), the much desired collective action to achieve sustainability today. Photo by Jesse Boga Madriaga.
Bottom: Fashion designer and educator Emi Englis proposed a solution to fashion’s consumption-centered messaging: to deliver sustainable fashion messages with compassion through a conversation or exchange of stories with their communities, appealing through unique lived experiences. Photo by Micromedia Productions for the Global Shapers Davao Hub.“Making sense of fashion and sustainability is difficult but much needed—especially because the Philippines is particularly vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis.”
Backyard inquiry
My study finds relevance in capturing the local nuances at play when it comes to communicating sustainability in certain microcosms. The setting is Davao City, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines. The community of designers here facilitates the growth of fashion with a focus on local culture. Although the scene is not as animated as Manila, with shows and exhibitions featuring local and global brands all year round, it is home to emerging and competitive designers trained in producing clothes inspired by heritage and culture; their narrative of preserving and promoting tradition merits generous media coverage. The conversation on culturally sustainable fashion permeates deeply into creative industry circles. The development of fashion is also partly supported by the government through the National Economic and Development Authority's Davao Region Creative Industries Roadmap 2023-2028, a blueprint that guides both public and private sectors towards "a sustainable, culture-centered, Davao Region of diverse, innovative, and world-class creative industries." [9] Furthermore, the country's Philippine Tropical Fabrics Law (Republic Act 9242) also guides designers and promotes a sense of nationalism by advocating for the use of locally-produced textiles, with fibers produced, spun, woven, knitted, or finished from abaca, banana, pineapple, and more. [10]
The mandate of the government’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) includes sustainable consumption and production as one of its development principles; its call for sustainability is founded upon solid waste management and resolving challenges on the country’s garbage problem. DENR encourages Filipinos to practice a sustainable lifestyle as a way to adapt to increasing resource consumption and waste generation that comes with yearly population growth; it sees unsustainable lifestyles as threats to limited waste disposal facilities.
Similarly, promoting sustainable consumption is also one of the efforts of the government’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which observes Consumer Welfare Month every October. DTI acknowledges growth in economic activities on digital platforms and it desires to achieve a harmony of the interests of consumers, businesses, and the environment. Earlier messages from DTI talk about mindful consumption behaviors such as examining product and packaging sustainability and minimizing the use of plastic. Recent endeavors promoted consumer education, responsible consumption, and the adoption of sustainable lifestyles to enact change. Their messaging points towards empowering consumers to consciously make sustainable choices when purchasing products or services. However, a dedicated communication effort that focuses on responsible consumption in fashion specifically is yet to be realized by government agencies that oversee the environment and consumer welfare. With uncoordinated communication efforts towards sustainable lifestyles, the uncertainty of the presence of sustainability in local consciousness and behavior presents communication opportunities.
Smaller community-based fashion experiences like clothing swaps, mending activities, and public fora are initiated by civic organizations and movements, making sustainable fashion conversations digestible. These efforts are limited in scope when compared to big campaigns by commercial fashion marketing engines. Photo by Micromedia Productions for the Global Shapers Davao Hub.Voices from fashion and beyond
Through conversations with people representing different sectors, I convened their ideas to better examine fashion, which often thrives inside an exclusive bubble of designers and brands. Each share a nuanced story of sustainable fashion and provide careful recommendations to navigate a tricky process of communication.
The participants that I engaged with are key players in the fashion system that conduct business or related operations in Davao City such as commercial retail, social enterprise, environmental communication, fashion design, and education. Their personal details and other identifiable information are kept confidential to adhere to traditional research protocols of my university. The selection of nine respondents for in-depth interviews were based on sustainability’s social, environmental, and economic pillars. The interview questions sought insights on sustainable fashion messaging and methods.
Three respondents are professionals with heavy involvement in sustainable fashion through their intersecting work on education and social entrepreneurship. I refer to them as the Social Group in this essay. Another three are immersed in the business of fashion through their work in marketing and communications. They are a professional who oversees communications and public relations in Southeast Asia for a Swedish global fashion brand; a founder of a sustainable fashion startup brand; and a marketing professional who oversees a mall chain’s brand marketing operations in Mindanao. This is the Economic Group. Three more respondents were engaged from the environmental sector doing communication work and I refer to them as the Environment Group. All of these specialists shed light on the nature of problems and made recommendations based on their specific experience and understanding of sustainable fashion.
In Davao City, government employees follow a local city ordinance that seeks to protect and promote Indigenous people (IP) culture by wearing IP-inspired attire to the workplace every first Monday of the month.Hard conversations about fashion
Sustainable fashion is often oversimplified by brands who tell consumers to shop "green" product lines. This makes sense for business but does not help to address consumption challenges in fashion. Although it acknowledges the efforts of the consumer to be a part of the solution, it limits the understanding of sustainability to acquiring new stuff. According to the Social Group, this oversimplification takes away the focus on notions of Filipino happiness and fulfillment by assigning value to material wealth instead of these being rooted in relationships, togetherness, and well-being, which are all interconnected concepts in the traditional yet unvoiced understanding of sustainability. A fashion designer and educator from the Social Group proposed a solution to this: brands can take note to deliver a sustainable fashion message with compassion through a conversation or exchange of stories with their communities, appealing through unique lived experiences. Homegrown Filipino brand Bayo is making strides towards this. Instead of actively pushing messages about clothes, through the years, Bayo has been spotlighting stories of women like mom and farming advocate Alaiza Malinao through narratives on empowerment and the environment. Social businesses like Anthill and Rags2Riches communicate stories along the same lines while also showcasing the elaborate weaving and production processes involved in recreating clothes and accessories from unwanted fabric through the work of community artisans.
The Social Group also maintains that there is no single method to communicate sustainable fashion messages. There are many routes and each is led by unique authorities who act as peddlers, exercising leadership over people, inspiring habits, promoting lifestyles and values, or setting up policies. As an example, they refer to figures like Senator Loren Legarda, who is steadfast in her fashion choices, wearing traditional fiber clothing in the halls of congress and beyond. The senator's leadership ripples through sustainable fashion through her efforts such as organizing the country's first permanent textile gallery in the National Museum of the Philippines called the Hibla ng Lahing Filipino (Fibers of Filipino Heritage). Outside the realms of Manila, the senator also supports academic efforts on fashion such as the the University of the Philippines Baguio’s Cordillera Textiles Project (CordiTex), a multi-disciplinary research project that melds social and scientific analysis of traditional and indigenous textiles through documentation and reconstruction in the Cordillera Administrative Region. Critical to the method is ensuring that the communication efforts do not alienate anyone regardless of communication in business, consumer, policy, academia, and media arenas.
The Economic Group points out a few examples of the country’s more prominent sustainable fashion campaigns and experiences. These include ArteFino, Katutubo Pop Up Market, and the Philippine Fashion Coalition’s Filipino Fashion Fair. These events bring sustainable fashion visibility but they are geared towards middle-class market segments, easily giving the larger public an impression that sustainable fashion is a hobby for the elite. These affairs mean well in the bigger sustainability conversation and they communicate their intentions clearly: to support Indigenous handicraft and to promote Filipino culture through contemporary design. Unfortunately, the much celebrated presence of these campaigns highlights the absence of more inclusive spaces to draw the average consumer to participate in sustainable fashion. On the whole, fashion continues to appear as an exclusive club and this makes the understanding of sustainable fashion even more difficult to promote in the mainstream despite already being ingrained in Filipino tradition.
The Environment Group shares an alternative: smaller community-based experiences like clothing swaps, mending activities, and public fora. In the Philippines, these are initiated by civic organizations and movements such as the local presence of Fashion Revolution and the Global Shapers Community. These efforts contribute to making sustainable fashion conversations digestible but operate in limited scope when compared to bigger fashion marketing engines. In this scenario, storytelling takes shape on different platforms. The fashion startup founder from the Economic Group referred to this as a method where we use online platforms to connect and offline spaces to engage. This is the method that I followed when I worked on citizen-focused sustainable fashion events like the Unstitch: Sustainable Fashion Forum in time for the annual Fashion Revolution Week every April. [11]
When it comes to policy, the Social Group points back to the Philippine Tropical Fabrics Law as a potent scaleable opportunity to showcase tangible sustainable fashion through influential spaces like government workplaces. The country's Civil Service Commission monitors and evaluates the implementation of this law through the submission of an annual report to the congress annually. I do not have access to these reports to see how thoroughly the government workforce abides by this law. However, I took note that the employees of a government agency that I regularly engage with wear polyester uniforms on weekdays. Interestingly, policies championed by city leaders, despite having a limited scope, translate to more doable actions. In Davao City, government employees follow a city ordinance that seeks to protect and promote the culture of the Indigenous people (IP) communities. The task is simple: to wear IP-inspired attire to work every first Monday of the month. [12]
Breaking down communication barriers in fashion through an exchange of personal and lived experiences makes sustainable fashion accessible to all rather than exclusive to some. Elena Mabano, a handcrafter at the Toril Kalambuan Association, shows fashion students how to make paper beads out of old magazines. Photo by Timewrap Film Productions for the Global Shapers Davao Hub.
The Unstitch: Sustainable Fashion Forum is a citizen-led clothing swap and fashion storytelling experience organized by this author to convene the community and voices from fashion and beyond. Photo by Micromedia Productions for the Global Shapers Davao Hub.
Sustainable fashion communication can explore messages that promote the diverse ways to participate in the movement: thrifting, mending, DIY-ing clothes, or simply making clothes last. Photo by Timewrap Film Productions for the Global Shapers Davao Hub.
Throughout my journalism practice, I have also taken note of how Filipino print and online media platforms vary in terms of sustainable fashion coverage: some offer the usual PR-driven reportage on newly released collections to attract advertisers, while other local platforms and titles dissect sustainability and fashion relationships from various perspectives and lenses. General readership titles like a newspaper create significant impact when publishing sustainable fashion stories, because they are less influenced by fashion advertising, and they command a wide audience from outside the fashion circle. The entry of Vogue Philippines to the media landscape in August 2022 highlighted new fashion reporting standards in a bigger platform that expanded beyond retail, through explorations and coverages representative of Filipino identity and optimism. The Philippine Daily Inquirer’s fashion subsection every Friday employs a healthy mix of trend reports, designer features, brand deep dives, commentary and criticism; sustainable fashion stories are approachable for the reader through pieces focused on community, culture, and creativity. In the grassroots, despite not having a dedicated fashion section, community media and newspapers in the regional areas publish fashion stories as “soft news.” Commercial fashion coverage like a local fashion show or a product launch follows a standard reporting template. Stories about sustainability and the environment find their own dedicated page every so often but sustainable fashion stories are often identified as a feature or a special report. Mindanao Times, the longest-running print newspaper in Mindanao, for example, has a dedicated lifestyle section that publishes a range of arts and culture stories with a periodic focus on fashion and local designers. These fashion features are irregular in frequency but these stories capture local creativity in detail. Activist-oriented stories that unpack the behind-the-scenes of the fashion business are hard to come by.
The way a sustainability message is also repackaged is also another core consideration. The Social Group maintains that in the age of the internet where a deluge of information is available and accessible, sustainable fashion communication must consider subtle messaging that is authentic, genuine, and not overwhelming. It does not have to be perfectly manicured. A respondent from the Environment Group says the same: apart from a message that is rooted in education, messaging must invite action and highlight benefits. A learning process also makes a bulk component of the messaging: it has to share a journey with consumers where mistakes are acknowledged, and best practices and small wins are highlighted to celebrate values and shape habits. Poblacion Market Central and its forerunner Aldevinco Shopping Center takes a dialed-down approach to communicating sustainable fashion and highlights the voices of their shop owners to tell the story of the strong ties that they share with the city’s history as they house a mix of local and imported textiles, community-sourced antiques, accessories, pearls, and artifacts for more than five decades. Their local and people-centered messaging shows what success in sustainable fashion communication looks like.
Two environmental professionals from the Environment Group also shared a critical insight about breaking down barriers in communication. This process emphasizes the power of appealing to personal experiences, making the idea of sustainable fashion accessible to all rather than exclusive to some. They made it clear that fashion solutions to the climate crisis must come from collaboration across disciplines and it shouldn’t be limited to the circle of fashion designers and brands. The same duo said that we should also listen to small voices from various sectors in the community: environment, education, and natural sciences. Two things must be noted at this point: the heavy lifting being done by the people inside the Philippine fashion industry is taking sustainability forward. However, they cannot do it alone. Players from sectors outside of fashion need to pitch in their efforts to come up with solutions and contributions, too!
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Sustainable fashion communication can present experiences that enable actionable change and a tangible proof of participation in fashion's new narrative. It is one that points towards sustainable scenarios that every citizen builds. Photo shows secondhand clothing peddlers in Davao City’s Chinatown. Photo by Bebs Gohetia.
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An ukay-ukay store in Davao City showcases piles of secondhand clothing. Photo by Bebs Gohetia.
There are three key learnings from this inquiry: sustainability is not perfection; communicating sustainability means celebrating Filipino values; and the global climate crisis makes it imperative to reimagine fashion experiences for players across the system. Sustainability is not a simple switch in the control room; it is a continuous process that requires collective effort and paves a way to the future. Communication should showcase it as a lifestyle.
The same communication effort should also be founded on the many already existing sustainable practices of Filipinos: hand washing, line drying, ukay-ukay, hand-me-downs, and handicraft. All of these point to resourcefulness and the spirit of bayanihan that facilitates collective action. However, in order for this to happen, sustainable fashion messages have to be personal and doable. These should not ask too much. Instead, these messages have to show malasakit (empathy) and to understand that Filipinos will naturally gravitate towards the good. The fashion narrative that thrives well among Filipinos is one that is accessible, diverse, and inclusive.
The current idea of sustainable fashion is still nested in consumption and it is sold as an experience for a premium but it does not always have to be this way. The new role of fashion in contributing solutions to the climate crisis is to present experiences to citizens that enable actionable change and show tangible proof of participation in fashion's new narrative. It is one that points towards sustainable lifestyles. The mall marketing professional in the Economic Group recommended that big brands can take leadership roles in localizing global sustainability conversations while the players in the environment sector can come in by presenting science-based messages that inform consumer decisions and participation in fashion.
Sustainability is already a mouthful, and pushing overwhelming and moralizing messages that demand climate action from consumers sets everyone up for failure. If we want Filipinos to embark on a sustainable fashion journey or stay rooted to existing sustainable lifestyles, we have to do three things: appeal to emotion; clarify fashion’s connection with everything else that’s on our plate; and widen an understanding of fashion by making the most out of the diverse storytelling opportunities for consumer-facing fashion communication.
Notes: Sustainable Fashion Communication
This essay encapsulates findings and learnings from Sustainable Fashion Communication: Weaving Messages of Awareness in a Highly Urbanized Philippine City, a thesis presented to the Professional Schools of the University of Mindanao, Davao City, Philippines, with the advice of Dr. Mary Ann Tarusan.
[1] London College of Fashion - Centre for Sustainable Fashion, “Fashion and Sustainability: Understanding Luxury Fashion in a Changing World,” Future Learn, accessed February 14, 2022, https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/fashion-and-sustainability.
[2] Carolyn Mair, The Psychology of Fashion (London: Routledge, 2018).
[3] Francine Russo, “Our Stuff, Ourselves,” Scientific American 318, no. 5 (April 17, 2018): 66-71, https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0518-66.
[4] Luc Hoffmann Institute, “Research and Action Agenda for Sustaining Diverse and Just Futures for Life on Earth,” Biodiversity Revisited, July 2020, https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.12086.52804/2.
[5] Margaret Robertson, Communicating Sustainability (Routledge, 2018).
[6] Samantha Mosier et al., “A Moving Target Concept? The Challenge of Defining Sustainability,” Sustainability and Climate Change 15, no. 2 (April 1, 2022): 112-25, https://doi.org/10.1089/scc.2021.0083.
[7] Jore-Annie Rico and Kim Robert de Leon, “Mall Culture and Consumerism in the Philippines,” Transnational Institute, 2017, longreads.tni.org/stateofpower/mall-culture.
[8] Lian Sing and Michelle Esquivias, “The Impact of the Importation of Second-hand Clothing in the Philippines,” Fashion Revolution Philippines, April 2019, https://www.fashionrevolution.org/asia/philippines/policy-paper-1/.
[9] National Economic and Development Authority, “NEDA Davao Joins 1st Davao Region Creative Innovation Summit, Presents Roadmap for the Creative Sector,” neda.gov.ph (National Economic and Development Authority, 2023), https://nro11.neda.gov.ph/neda-davao-joins-1st-davao-region-creative-innovation-summit-presents-roadmap-for-the-creative-sector/.
[10] Reina Rose Realino, “Revised IRR for Philippine Tropical Fabrics (PTF) Law Introduced: What You Need to Know,” ptri.dost.gov.ph (Philippine Textile Research Institute, September 7, 2023), https://www.ptri.dost.gov.ph/programs-and-projects/philippine-silk-s-t-program/9-transparency-seal/370-revised-irr-for-philippine-tropical-fabrics-ptf-law-introduced-what-you-need-to-know.
[11] Jesse Boga, “Reimagining Fashion,” Mindanao Times, May 19, 2024, https://mindanaotimes.com.ph/reimagining-fashion/.
[12] Krizzy Daugdaug, “Davao City Council Passes Ordinance on IP-Inspired Uniform for City Gov’t Employees,” SunStar Publishing Inc., November 16, 2022, https://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/davao-city-council-passes-ordinance-on-ip-inspired-uniform-for-city-govt-employees.
The way a sustainability message is also repackaged is also another core consideration. The Social Group maintains that in the age of the internet where a deluge of information is available and accessible, sustainable fashion communication must consider subtle messaging that is authentic, genuine, and not overwhelming. It does not have to be perfectly manicured. A respondent from the Environment Group says the same: apart from a message that is rooted in education, messaging must invite action and highlight benefits. A learning process also makes a bulk component of the messaging: it has to share a journey with consumers where mistakes are acknowledged, and best practices and small wins are highlighted to celebrate values and shape habits. Poblacion Market Central and its forerunner Aldevinco Shopping Center takes a dialed-down approach to communicating sustainable fashion and highlights the voices of their shop owners to tell the story of the strong ties that they share with the city’s history as they house a mix of local and imported textiles, community-sourced antiques, accessories, pearls, and artifacts for more than five decades. Their local and people-centered messaging shows what success in sustainable fashion communication looks like.
Two environmental professionals from the Environment Group also shared a critical insight about breaking down barriers in communication. This process emphasizes the power of appealing to personal experiences, making the idea of sustainable fashion accessible to all rather than exclusive to some. They made it clear that fashion solutions to the climate crisis must come from collaboration across disciplines and it shouldn’t be limited to the circle of fashion designers and brands. The same duo said that we should also listen to small voices from various sectors in the community: environment, education, and natural sciences. Two things must be noted at this point: the heavy lifting being done by the people inside the Philippine fashion industry is taking sustainability forward. However, they cannot do it alone. Players from sectors outside of fashion need to pitch in their efforts to come up with solutions and contributions, too!
Sustainable fashion communication can present experiences that enable actionable change and a tangible proof of participation in fashion's new narrative. It is one that points towards sustainable scenarios that every citizen builds. Photo shows secondhand clothing peddlers in Davao City’s Chinatown. Photo by Bebs Gohetia.
An ukay-ukay store in Davao City showcases piles of secondhand clothing. Photo by Bebs Gohetia.Values-based communication and fashion’s reimagining
There are three key learnings from this inquiry: sustainability is not perfection; communicating sustainability means celebrating Filipino values; and the global climate crisis makes it imperative to reimagine fashion experiences for players across the system. Sustainability is not a simple switch in the control room; it is a continuous process that requires collective effort and paves a way to the future. Communication should showcase it as a lifestyle.
The same communication effort should also be founded on the many already existing sustainable practices of Filipinos: hand washing, line drying, ukay-ukay, hand-me-downs, and handicraft. All of these point to resourcefulness and the spirit of bayanihan that facilitates collective action. However, in order for this to happen, sustainable fashion messages have to be personal and doable. These should not ask too much. Instead, these messages have to show malasakit (empathy) and to understand that Filipinos will naturally gravitate towards the good. The fashion narrative that thrives well among Filipinos is one that is accessible, diverse, and inclusive.
The current idea of sustainable fashion is still nested in consumption and it is sold as an experience for a premium but it does not always have to be this way. The new role of fashion in contributing solutions to the climate crisis is to present experiences to citizens that enable actionable change and show tangible proof of participation in fashion's new narrative. It is one that points towards sustainable lifestyles. The mall marketing professional in the Economic Group recommended that big brands can take leadership roles in localizing global sustainability conversations while the players in the environment sector can come in by presenting science-based messages that inform consumer decisions and participation in fashion.
Sustainability is already a mouthful, and pushing overwhelming and moralizing messages that demand climate action from consumers sets everyone up for failure. If we want Filipinos to embark on a sustainable fashion journey or stay rooted to existing sustainable lifestyles, we have to do three things: appeal to emotion; clarify fashion’s connection with everything else that’s on our plate; and widen an understanding of fashion by making the most out of the diverse storytelling opportunities for consumer-facing fashion communication.
Notes: Sustainable Fashion Communication
This essay encapsulates findings and learnings from Sustainable Fashion Communication: Weaving Messages of Awareness in a Highly Urbanized Philippine City, a thesis presented to the Professional Schools of the University of Mindanao, Davao City, Philippines, with the advice of Dr. Mary Ann Tarusan.
[1] London College of Fashion - Centre for Sustainable Fashion, “Fashion and Sustainability: Understanding Luxury Fashion in a Changing World,” Future Learn, accessed February 14, 2022, https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/fashion-and-sustainability.
[2] Carolyn Mair, The Psychology of Fashion (London: Routledge, 2018).
[3] Francine Russo, “Our Stuff, Ourselves,” Scientific American 318, no. 5 (April 17, 2018): 66-71, https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0518-66.
[4] Luc Hoffmann Institute, “Research and Action Agenda for Sustaining Diverse and Just Futures for Life on Earth,” Biodiversity Revisited, July 2020, https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.12086.52804/2.
[5] Margaret Robertson, Communicating Sustainability (Routledge, 2018).
[6] Samantha Mosier et al., “A Moving Target Concept? The Challenge of Defining Sustainability,” Sustainability and Climate Change 15, no. 2 (April 1, 2022): 112-25, https://doi.org/10.1089/scc.2021.0083.
[7] Jore-Annie Rico and Kim Robert de Leon, “Mall Culture and Consumerism in the Philippines,” Transnational Institute, 2017, longreads.tni.org/stateofpower/mall-culture.
[8] Lian Sing and Michelle Esquivias, “The Impact of the Importation of Second-hand Clothing in the Philippines,” Fashion Revolution Philippines, April 2019, https://www.fashionrevolution.org/asia/philippines/policy-paper-1/.
[9] National Economic and Development Authority, “NEDA Davao Joins 1st Davao Region Creative Innovation Summit, Presents Roadmap for the Creative Sector,” neda.gov.ph (National Economic and Development Authority, 2023), https://nro11.neda.gov.ph/neda-davao-joins-1st-davao-region-creative-innovation-summit-presents-roadmap-for-the-creative-sector/.
[10] Reina Rose Realino, “Revised IRR for Philippine Tropical Fabrics (PTF) Law Introduced: What You Need to Know,” ptri.dost.gov.ph (Philippine Textile Research Institute, September 7, 2023), https://www.ptri.dost.gov.ph/programs-and-projects/philippine-silk-s-t-program/9-transparency-seal/370-revised-irr-for-philippine-tropical-fabrics-ptf-law-introduced-what-you-need-to-know.
[11] Jesse Boga, “Reimagining Fashion,” Mindanao Times, May 19, 2024, https://mindanaotimes.com.ph/reimagining-fashion/.
[12] Krizzy Daugdaug, “Davao City Council Passes Ordinance on IP-Inspired Uniform for City Gov’t Employees,” SunStar Publishing Inc., November 16, 2022, https://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/davao-city-council-passes-ordinance-on-ip-inspired-uniform-for-city-govt-employees.
Issue 13 ︎︎︎ Fashion & Politics
Issue 13 ︎︎︎ Fashion & Politics