Here’s the Red Cross pitch: Buy a dress, give life

While many of us are still reeling from the after-shock following Typhoon Yolanda’s wake over the weekend, you could say that now really isn’t the time to talk about fashion. Not unless you’re talking about the donated type. This week, several people have organized drives and fundraisers for typhoon victims to collect food, medicine and the easiest items to commit to charity: clothing. The Philippine Red Cross can vouch for that. The organization maintains two warehouses full of donated clothing in Mandaluyong and Manila. On top of that, many of the items aren’t exactly practical for typhoon victims. Though they probably wouldn’t say “thanks, but no thanks” to a box of donated clothes, a funny idea entered their brains: What if they could sell them?

It’s an idea that they’d been toying with earlier this year. It made sense because Filipinos aren’t exactly squeamish about secondhand clothing — even the wealthiest of us have gone to an ukay-ukay for a cheap thrill. And if the Salvation Army Family Thrift Stores in the US are any indication, it’s a model that works. With the mountains of clothing in their possession, PRC finally decided to push through with Aid Couture, an initiative to sell donated clothing to raise funds, last September.

From the initial inception, it was a long road to realize their goals. First, they had to sort through the clothing and figure out which pieces would actually sell. From 400 sacks of clothing, which is only a minuscule fraction of what’s still in their warehouses, they were able to narrow it down to 80 sacks. The next step was equally grueling: convincing people to buy the clothes, which had been sitting in their warehouse for months, even years.

So they did the logical thing and approached a laundromat. Fortunately for them, Caloy Ang of Suds Laundry has been active in PRC since he was a teenager and was more than willing to lend his expertise. “To process the clothes well, we had to sort by color,” he explains. “Then we had to sort by fabric types, separating delicates from heavy items like jeans. We’ve had about four sortings prior to the wash.”

From there, other partnerships materialized. Joey Ermita of LG electronics shared that they found out about Aid Couture from Suds Laundry and decided to lend washing machine units. “We felt that our experience will be of great use so immediately extended our support to this cause,” Joey says. Then, Proctor & Gamble stepped in by supplying Ariel laundry detergent and Downy fabric enhancer to Suds Laundry, along with providing financial assistance for the final sale event. “This is the right thing to do to help our Filipino consumers,” Mukta Maheshwari of P&G says. “It is unique as it helps transform something no longer as valuable to something that could make a difference in disaster relief operations.”

Just two months later and with everything in place, all they needed was a little cred from the fashion industry. YStyle immediately offered support by becoming a media partner for Aid Couture. Model/host Vicky Herrera was also a natural partner since she was already running Change Clothes, a project that sells pre-loved items to raise funds for non-profits. “It’s nice to join forces with them because you feel the momentum really grow,” she says. A day after Typhoon Yolanda hit, she and designer Happy Andrada trooped to the PRC headquarters in Mandaluyong to style outfits using the donated clothing. The finished looks would be used to promote the Aid Couture sale. If all goes well, PRC could stand to raise up to P1 million. “It’s a way of helping out in my own little way,” Happy says. “It would be good it we could all be socially responsible.”

On the day of the Aid Couture sale, which falls this weekend, style partners Jujiin Samonte and Paulo Castro will be on-hand to do a live-styling segment. The two admit to have donated clothing that may have been a little too fancy for calamity victims, but they believe that there is a market among the less-fortunate for their once-meaningful items. “A sequin top has stories of late night dancing. I believe it will land in the hands of someone who’d appreciate clothes with stories.” Paulo chimes in, saying, “I’m pretty sure we’ve donated some clothes that, at first, some would call impractical, but there’ll always be a becky out there who’ll find use for those clothes!” Perhaps at Aid Couture, they will.

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The Philippine Red Cross Aid Couture sale will be on Nov. 16 from 12 noon to 10 p.m. and on Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Alabang Town Center Activity Center. All proceeds from the sales will go to Typhoon Yolanda relief operations.