Local clothing brand adopts sustainability
HOMEGROWN fashion brand Bayo Philippines is adopting sustainability, admitting they were throwing away too much fabric waste before starting their zerowaste campaign.
Speaking at The Manila Times forum “Tech Leveraging: The Future of Retailing” on Wednesday, Bayo Chief Executive Officer Leo Lagon said they have recently adopted sustainability in their way of business.
“We discovered that the fabric waste that we produce amounted to 35 percent of all the fabrics,” he said. “Imagine one-third of our raw materials being thrown out in the landfills.”
Bayo’s “Journey to Zero,” was started in 2007 and launched in 2019, is the fashion brand’s battle cry to attain sustainability, aiming for zero-carbon emissions, zero waste and zero for the circular economy.
“After three years, because of the new software that we installed in our pattern department, we were able to bring down our wastage from a high of 35 percent to as low as 5 to 10 percent, which optimized the use of our fabric materials,” Lagon added.
Also, Bayo sent out the remaining fabric to communities the brand supports, in support of the hand-weaving industry.
“As we move forward and accelerate the efforts of our Journey to Zero programs, we later discovered that community development works,” Lagon said. “This is closely intertwined with sustainability in order to attain a circularity of purpose.”
The clothing brand was immediately exposed to the plight of the weaving industry after visiting their first weaving community.
“The weaving industry is already considered a sunset industry because of exuberant prices and low customer demand,” Lagon said.
As a result, Bayo decided to assist these weaving communities, which consisted of unemployed women. They started by visiting a community in Angat, Bulacan.
“We purposely targeted these communities, mostly composed of unemployed women, in order to empower them to earn a decent livelihood without having to leave or sacrifice their roles in the family,” Lagon added. “We firmly believe that if we empower women and they gain financial independence, the direct beneficiary as a whole, and weaving is a perfect fit for the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) since housewives can weave anywhere, even outside their households. It is very important that we have to intervene in the community work processes every step of the way in order for efficiency to be improved.”
He narrated on how Bayo immersed by studying the step-bystep process and trying to figure out on why weaving was expensive.
“When we try to change and to choose innovations that increase efficiency, production would increase, and would, in turn, increase the take-home pay of weavers,” he said. “It is our contention that if we want to save the weaving industry, we must first provide a living wage to the weavers. In order to provide sustainability and stability, we are learning the process. Our brands provided a ready market for them so that they can continue on weaving without even worrying about the marketing.”
The Bayo chief said just by improving the work process, they were able to bring down costs by as much as 20 percent, without reducing the take-home pay of the weavers.
As a result, Bulacan weavers are now receiving salaries higher than the prescribed minimum wage in the area.
Lagon said these activities form part of an ecosystem that results in a “more sustainable fashion industry.”
However, despite all this, Lagon admitted said their task is not yet complete.
“We have several initiatives to use regenerative materials. There are still about 5 to 10 percent of our fabrics that we throw in the landfill,” he said. “We will leave no stone unturned as we fully close the loop by zeroing on our remaining textile waste.
Actionable change
Lagon said Bayo has called for “actionable change” under the United Nation’s SDGs, as Bayo is a member of the UN’s Global Compact (UNGC).
“We strongly call for an actionable change under the Sustainable Development Goals that were prescribed by the UNGC, in which Bayo is a member,” he said.
Lagon also said a lot of companies are still not aware of the SDGs.
“We need to do more, that is why we have been doing this for the past five years,” he said, adding the UNGC asked him and his team to go out and tell their story.
Within two years of Bayo’s membership with Global Compact Network Philippines, the brand was awarded the Most Outstanding Implementer of the SDGs among micro, small and medium enterprises.