Category Archives: Philippines

Philippines, Sewing Partners, Uncategorized

report from the philippines, summer 2021

Summer 2021 Newsletter

Rags2Riches (R2R) is a social enterprise established in 2007 that provides livelihood to artisans from poor communities in the Philippines. Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, the President & Co-Founder of R2R is a Rolex Young Laureate for 2010, which paved the way for the partnership with Sewing Peace.

In October 2020 Reese Fernandez-Ruiz and David Schweidenback were interviewed by the Washington Post together for a dynamic new media article called Trash to Treasure Hunters, in partnership with Rolex.org. As both Reese and David are Rolex Awardees for the Environment, they shared their experiences on upcycling, recycling, and creating better opportunities for people through transforming waste into valuable assets. The partnership between R2R and Sewing Peace was a natural fit. R2R provides livelihood opportunities for artisans from the Philippines while Sewing Peace provides valuable livelihood-enabling assets such as sewing machines to communities in need. Not long after the interview was published, Reese and David continued their conversation and established a partnership.

Sewing Peace shipped 35 beautiful and functional sewing machines to R2R in December 2020. All of these sewing machines were distributed to the main artisans of R2R. These machines enable the artisans to generate livelihood while staying home and keeping themselves and their families safe and healthy. All of R2R’s artisans are very grateful for these valuable tools that enrich their lives and create opportunities for them to support their families especially during this pandemic.

Sewing machines are incredible tools for artisans to be able to practice their craft while generating income for their families. R2R’s main tool has always been the weaving loom. However, sewing machines also emerged as another indispensable tool that, combined with the use of the weaving loom, could create unique and valuable masterpieces that could generate more income for artisans. R2R provides the training for sewing and weaving as well as continuous market access.

The sewing machines provided by Sewing Peace are valuable assets for artisans to lift themselves out of poverty and stay out of poverty.

bicycles, Marketing, Philippines, Sewing Partners

Rolex laureates discuss recycling

This post from our Fall 2020 Newsletter gives the background to this 19-minute discussion of recycling. The discussion, moderated by Jeff Kirschner, CEO of Litterati, was part of a collaboration between the Washington Post and the Rolex Perpetual Planet project. The discussion features P4P President, David Schweidenback, and Rags2Riches President, Reese Fernandez-Ruiz. This audio is part of the multimedia piece Trash-to-Treasure Hunters.

Click here to hear the 19-minute discussion.

Philippines, Sewing Partners

Rags2Riches, Philippines: New Partner in 2020

By Reese Fernandez-Ruiz
Fall 2020 Newsletter

[This is an introduction to our newest partner, Rags2Riches of the Philippines. We met because of a partnership between Rolex and the Washington Post, described here. Our first shipment, a pallet with 36 sewing machines, arrives in the Philippines November 16th.]

Rags2Riches, Inc. (R2R) is a fashion and design house empowering community artisans in the Philippines. We create fashion and home accessories out of upcycled fashion waste materials and indigenous fabrics. We sell our products and share our stories through our Philippine-based online store ThingsThatMatter.ph as well as our recently launched online store for North America, R2RShop.com.

Our goal is to be a life and livelihood partner to artisans from communities who do not have access to opportunities that will help lift their lives and families out of poverty. We do this through an end-to-end inclusive supply chain that reaches out to various urban and rural poor artisan communities that have no regular market access or opportunities for employment. We work with these communities through providing them with regular training (that we call our Artisan Academy), access to upcycled fashion waste materials, design direction and collaboration, and reliable livelihood.

For the past 13 years, we have provided sustainable livelihood to about 200 community artisans fairly and consistently. In the Philippines and in various parts of the world, artisan livelihood is intermittent, inconsistent, and seasonal. Thus, 13 years with monthly job orders is considered a huge milestone and the longest standing livelihood for the communities that we are in. We have the community building tools, learning modules, design translation expertise, and dedicated team to make R2R truly a life and livelihood partner for artisans for the long-term.

Through this partnership with P4P, we’ll be able to provide more sewing machines for our artisans who are now mostly working remotely. Our artisans are used to weaving but with the help of sewing machines, they can create other products that can further supplement their income and provide for their families especially during this challenging time.

Marketing, Philippines

Two Rolex Laureates on Washington Post Multimedia

Fall 2020 Newsletter

In 2000, Dave Schweidenback won a Rolex Laureate Award for his Pedals for Progress work.

In 2010, Reese Fernandez-Ruiz won a Rolex Laureate Award for her Rags2Riches work. Rags2Riches partners with local artisans across the Philippines to create eco-ethical fashion and home accessories out of upcycled, overstock cloth and indigenous fabrics. Here is her introduction to R2R, our newest partner.

In 2019, the Washington Post partnered with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet campaign. Together they launched Climate Solutions to explore the people and organizations focused on tackling global warming. Climate Solutions produces multimedia pieces spotlighting the history and legacy of Rolex Laureates working to keep the planet perpetual. The focus is on key areas like wildlife protection, oceans, water conservation and waste recycling.

Here is Trash–to–Treasure Hunters, the Rolex and Washington Post piece on waste recycling, featuring Reese of Rags2Riches and Dave of P4P.