Embassy of Sweden Brings Fashion Revolution: The Future of Textiles Exhibition to the University of San Carlos

The Embassy of Sweden in Manila, spearheaded by Ambassador Harald Fries, launches the Fashion Revolution: The Future of Textiles at the University of San Carlos (USC) after successfully exhibiting it at Cebu Design Week, SM City Cebu and SM Seaside Cebu. The exhibit highlights the need for a more sustainable fashion and textile industry and Sweden’s active role in promoting it. This is because fashion is one of the most polluting industries of the world.

Curated and produced by the Swedish Institute with the help of researchers and sustainable fashion experts, the exhibition highlights the fashion industry’s major environmental challenges, showcases Swedish solutions, and guides consumers to contribute effectively to a more sustainable world.

The exhibition, which runs until 18 March 2020 at the School of Architecture, Fine Arts and Design – USC, is supported by major Swedish brands H&M, IKEA, and BabyBjorn.

H&M featured key pieces made of sustainable textiles from their Conscious Collection while BabyBjorn exhibited baby-carriers that are all created from recycled and upcycled products. Social enterprise and textile designer ANTHILL Fabric Gallery showed a Filipino example of circular business model and the role of local fabrics in fashion sustainability.

A forum and panel discussion accompanied the launch. Speakers from IKEA, the global home furnishing brand, shared the company’s sustainability efforts and USC alumna Barbara Page Uy-Tiu presented upcycled flour sacks into an outerwear collection.

The exhibit was inaugurated by Ambassador of Sweden Harald Fries, Vice President of Academic Affairs of USC Narciso Cellan SVD, Dan Mejia of H&M, Mario Carbon of ANTHILL Fabric Gallery, and Jasmin Cruz of IKEA Philippines.

Globally, the world’s population consume about 62 million tonnes of clothing per year – that is a small suitcase full of clothes per person – and only 20 percent is re-used or recycled. Since year 2000, global clothes production has more than doubled, and the average person now buys 60 percent more items of clothing every year and keeps them for about half as long as they did 15 years ago. It takes 10,000 to 30,000 litres of water and 2-4 kilos of chemicals to produce 1 kilo of treated cotton. 15 to 30 percent of the plastic pollutants in the oceans consist of microplastics and 35 percent of that comes from laundering synthetic textiles.

At the launch of Fashion Revolution, Ambassador Fries expressed hope for consumers to become more conscious and mindful of their consumption of fashion. The better informed people are, the greater the pressure that can be exerted on companies to act sustainably.