BAYO Foundation’s partnership with DOST-PTRI has pushed the boundaries of sustainable fashion, proving that there is more to do than repurposing
Year after year, brands and designers are doing their part in making fashion sustainable, a responsibility taken on by many to address the fact that the fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to pollution. Local brand BAYO Foundation took a step further, repurposing military fabrics to create new pieces of clothing, and even turning textile waste into spools of yarn, ready to be woven into fabric and to create the future of sustainable fashion.
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Repurpose
With a clear mission to promote sustainable fashion and a circular economy, BAYO Foundation partnered with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to establish a HARVEST Creative Community Hub within the military camp to train families in weaving and craftsmanship. Through HARVEST, they are able to upcycle the discarded military uniforms into new woven clothes that tell heartfelt stories.
Despite being upcycled, these military uniforms carry the weight of sacrifice and service, battle scars, important missions, and humanitarian efforts. Each piece of clothing that makes use of these military uniforms tells the story of courage and patriotism, of duty and sacrifice. Through repurposing these symbolic uniforms, BAYO Foundation was able to provide a sustainable livelihood, promote environmental responsibility, and honor the military’s service.
Re-invention
The fashion industry is a major contributor to pollution, which leads to the call for more sustainable practices in an industry where trends, creativity, and artistry matter. BAYO Foundation and DOST-PTRI have turned to textile waste and decided to challenge the boundaries of sustainable fashion. To further reuse these, they break these textile waste down until they are fibers, spooling them into yarns and eventually weaving them into fabric. Through innovation and passion for sustainability, they launched TexRev, or Textile Revitalization.
While repurposing scrap fabrics isn’t new, TexRev challenges the way textiles are repurposed, fully completing circular fashion so they can be reused again and again, essentially creating less waste. BAYO Foundation and DOST-PTRI’s innovation could change the way we see sustainable fashion.
“This is an opportunity to look at sustainability as an opportunity to recreate products using non-virgin materials and TexRev responds to that. The biggest problem of the industry now has a big solution.”
– Anna Lagon, Co-CEO of BAYO and Executive Director of BAYO Foundation
Featured Image and Photos: BAYO FOUNDATION
