Eco-chic | Rajo's Blog | StyleBible.ph

Posts Tagged ‘eco-chic’

R2R @ The Eastwood Mall!

Friday, June 5th, 2009

I have two special groups that are very close to my heart. My Rags-2-Riches group, which is a social business enterprise that helps out the women of Payatas, and the Philippine National Red Cross. I try my best to raise funds and awareness for them every chance I get. So you can just imagine my joy when I had the opportunity to help both organizations at one time! This all happened when my friend Kevin Tan gave me a call and asked if I was willing to design a shopping bag for his Eastwood Mall. I automatically thought of using my Nanays of Payatas!

I am so proud of these women, as we have won several awards all over the world ! I am happy to announce that our family has grown from 20 nanays all the way to almost 400 strong! I wanted to have a photo exhibit showcasing the lives of these women, and I also wanted the people to see where the bags came from. It’s really quite touching when you see the pictures. We launched this project a couple of days ago at the Eastwood Mall, and although it was raining cats and dogs, we had quite the crowd!

I just want to invite all of you to come and take a check out the Eastwood Mall in Libis. It’s really quite impressive. When I went, I thought I was in Vegas! LOL! They even have a Superga store, which is one of my most favorite shoe brands from Italy.

I know you might have a lot of these eco-bags already, but our bags are really different, as each bag is one of a kind. The goodness that you will give out in return from purchasing these bags is immeasurable. All the proceeds of the bags will go to R2R and The Red Cross! So please come and buy and be a part in changing lives!

: Kevin Tan and the host of the evening! My darling Tessa Valdes.

: Tessa carrying the Eastwood Mall ECO-CHIC bag! We only made 500 bags and they are all numbered and personally signed by the nanay who made them. The bag is only 600.00 Pesos.

: Kevin, Tessa and I with the team leaders of the Nanays of R2R.

: The photos were taken by Erwin Liberato and Richelle VIbal. This is a photo of Smokey mountain, which is located in Payatas.

: The retasos/remnants are handwoven to create the material for the bags.

: The bags are sewn using old sewing machines.

: These are the handles for the ECO-Chic bags of the Eastwood mall.

: Handles being tested and shaped.

One of the nanay's working on the frame, which is how the bags are made.

One of the nanays working on the frame, showing how the bags are made.

Mariana from Spain and Ariana from Brazil modellng our bags!

Nix, Fayinna, Carla and Joanna showing their support!

Leo and Marielle Po with Stylebible's Isha Andaya! Thank you so much for coming and braving the rain and the traffic.

The Red Cross was fully represented by Mr. Alfred Xerex-Burgos and Mrs. Lulu Quezon.

Men in STRIPES! Keving Tan and Raul Manzano.

The smiles of these children are my personal remuneration.

We had a quick fashion show with the bags!

HUGS!

RAJO!

Tags: charity, eastwood mall, eco-chic, Fashion Insider, friends, payatas, rags 2 riches, rajo laurel
Posted in Fashion Insider | 2 Comments »

FAME: Part 2!

Monday, April 20th, 2009

I find it strange to feel Christmas in the middle of SUMMER! My goodness, it’s so hot outside now! However, I did have a really great surreal moment to be surrounded by all things holiday at FAME! This is the second part of my FAME series where we had to choose the best product design in the Holiday Decor category.

I loved this part of the show because it makes me feel like a child again. I mean, Christmas is really for children, so I went back to the time when I was 6 or 7 as we were choosing the winner. There were quite a number of fantastic ideas, and I am so glad that they allowed me to take photos so that I can remember them come Christmas time!

I loved the booth and products of TOPA of Manila inc.! They had a fantastic theme and they ran a way with it! The collection of these paper mache' based items were SOOOOO cute! This is their SNOWMAN series.

I loved the booth and products of TOPA of Manila Inc! They had a fantastic theme and they ran away with it! The collection of these paper-mâché based items were SOOOOO cute! This is their SNOWMAN series.

I adored TOPAS' Santas! They reminded me of peppermint candies! I love that SANTA came in all shapes and sizes. Thin, fat, tall, short Santas were all over. You can email TOPA at topaworks@mail.com

I adored these bunny rabbits! I really loved the old fashion appeal of these stuffed toys. I wanted to buy them for my nieces! They are made by BenJoy Inc. You can contact them through their email add: benjoy@mozcom.com

These items were also so strange! They reminded me of creatures from my old fairy tale books! They had these scary but cool attitude about them.

These items were also so strange! They reminded me of creatures from my old fairy tale books! They had this scary but cool attitude about them.

These lambs were also made from paper. The wool on them are actually coiled newspaper! How cool is that?

These lambs were also made from paper. The wool on them is actually coiled newspaper! How cool is that?

I was really impressed with this company! These fairies are from the Accent pieces. I found the fairy series really wonderful!

These wreaths won the KATHA 2009 award for Best Product design in the Holiday Decor category. They are made from recycled paper and paint. Congratulations to ACCENT Pieces! You can get in touch with them through accentpieces@i-manila.com.ph

I loved this reindeer suite! They are made from found drift wood pieces. I liked the natural ease of the design and its ecological appeal.

I loved this reindeer suite! They are made from driftwood pieces. I liked the natural ease of the design and its ecological appeal.

HUGS!
RAJO!

Tags: awards, christmas, culture, eco-chic, fame, Fashion Insider, holiday, rajo laurel
Posted in Fashion Insider | No Comments »

RIIR by Aranaz!

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

I may not have a child, but I now know how a parent must feel when a child does so very, very well! I was beaming with pride when I attended the launch of R2R‘s newest line designed by the very talented Amina Aranaz-Alunan. The collection was ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!

When Brother Xavi asked me to be part of the Rags to Riches project, it just felt so right. This is exactly how I envisioned where R2R would be heading a collaboration of minds and talents. Now it feels so wonderful to see the women of Payatas creating these beautiful works of art! I had to leave the launch early but I am sure that the collection sold very well. The rest of you must visit the ARANAZ stores in Greenbelt 5 and in Rockwell – there maybe some stock left. The collection is very limited, so come as soon as possible!

: The beautiful and talented Amina Aranaz-Alunan! Thank you, sweetie, for your giving heart!

: This macrame bag is called LAMBAT, the perfect beach tote! I can see every chic gal carrying it in Bora, Bohol and Cebu!

: I loved the concept of the presentation for the launch. Amina, who owns and teaches at the fashion school called SOFA, had the students create lovely “paper” dresses as a perfect foil for the bags!

: I love this bag called the MARIA ROSA!

: A detail shot of the Maria Rosa tote. The rosettes are just so adorable! Can anyone imagine that this used to be scrap and trash?

: I found the perfect summer bag and it’s called APLAYA! This just made me almost scream with delight! The colors are just to die for!

: Amina invited established Filipino fashion designers to participate in the launch. This was created by Dong Omaga-Diaz.

: This amazing dress was done by my dear friend Jojie Lloren. It’s made from newspaper! However, he fused it and sewed the paper like it was a dress! The bag is also soooooo chic!