I can’t believe that it has already been over (4) years since the very first Rags2Riches RIIR Collection was launched! At that time, it was just a vision and a dream – merging social cause with high fashion, the Payatas women with the beautiful designs of Filipino icon Rajo Laurel.

Rags2Riches now goes full circle. After working with designers Amina Aranaz-Alunan and Oliver Tolentino for the past couple of years, the latest collection – dubbed Athletenique – is once again in collaboration with Rajo.

Here are the pictures from the event (thank you Ed San Juan and Perry Villa for the pics!)

The launch was held in the exquisite Ayala Museum.

RIIR Nanay Artisans – the driving force and creators of the bags – live up as fashion icons as well!

The RIIR Athletenique Collection launch was made possible by corporate partner, Metrobank (thank you!)

RIIR President (and ahem, my wife) Reese Fernandez-Ruiz gives an update on Rags2Riches.

Designer Rajo Laurel explains the inspiration behind the Athletenique Collection.

Host Kara, Rajo, and Models displaying the Athletenique Pieces.

The wonderful backdrop was made by artist Leroy New!

The Rags2Riches Team!

Reese and I have this tradition of this duo pic after every R2R launch

Gawad Kalinga and the I Love Iloilo Movement partnered with SeaOil for “EntrepreneurShift”  - a conference advocating for a Social Enterprise movement in Iloilo. Subtitled, ‘How Social Enterprise is Changing the World’, it brought together different advocates of social enterprise to share their perspectives and experience  in this field (myself and Reese included :p). The invitation was given out by lead organizer (and Iloilo councilor) Jason Gonzales, a friend whom I last met in the Peace & Equity Foundation Social Enterprise Conference held in November 2011.

The conference was like a reunion of sorts as Reese and I spoke with friends and colleagues Tito Tony Meloto (Gawad Kalinga Founding Father), Mark Lawrence Cruz (Gawad Kalinga), Dylan Wilk (Human Nature), Noreen Bautista (Jacinto Y Lirio), Rico Gonzalez (Managing Director of xchange, as well as a Hapinoy Board Member/Advisor) and Chit Juan (ECHOStore). Rounding up the group was Mark Yu, CFO of sponsoring company SeaOil, himself already getting more and more immersed in the Social Enterprise field.

An interesting factoid was that the venue was held inside an SM Cinema (hence the large backdrop behind the pictures below), and must have accommodated an audience of at least 1,000 Ilonggos – students, government officials, local businessmen and entrepreneurs, academe, and NGO/social enterprise practitioners.

Mark Lawrence Cruz, one of the leaders of Gawad Kalinga, did the honors of hosting the event. He is certainly one of the most passionate advocates of GK, poverty alleviation, nation-building, and social entrepreneurship.

Noreen Bautista, co-founder of Social Enterprise Jacinto Y Lirio, started the series of talks. The main message she shared was this – NOW is the ideal time to be young and to start a social enterprise. This is not only evidenced by the impact that J&L has done through community development and eco-fashion, but also further reinforced by young social entrepreneurs in GK’s Center for Social Innovation. In her talk, she also reminded that we first met when I myself shared about social entrepreneurship in her Ateneo Student Leaders Assembly (ASLA) batch; In a sense, it felt as if things had come full circle, and it was certainly great to see Noreen inspiring the next generation of social entrepreneurs.

Tito Tony Meloto, Founding Father of Gawad Kalinga and national icon delivered the keynote. The visionary TM found himself back home to Iloilo where he has his roots (in fact, the first five minutes of his talk were done in native Ilonggo). He then shared the story, mission, of vision of Gawad Kalinga – on poverty alleviation and nation-building – and how it is now moving from housing/community development into social entrepreneurship. Whereas the first phase of GK focused on providing land for the landless and homes for the homeless, the current phase now focuses on enterprise and livelihood. This has come to life through the Enchanted Farm – a social enterprise incubator / platform – the first site of which is in Angat, Bulacan. I’ve visited it quite a number of times and I must say that exciting times are ahead in this space.

Mark Yu, CFO of Seaoil, then took the stage to deliver his insights on the emerging model that is social enterprise. I like Mark’s framework of how it merges two distinct yet related paradigms – that of Making a Million (Business) and Making a Difference (Philanthropy) – and making it work as a unified whole. True to form, Mark shared a well thought-out perspective , an example of which is how the value chain of customers-employees-suppliers-shareholders-community are reconfigured with the community as the primary stakeholder. Reese and I have known Mark from the Asia Society Philippines21 Young Leaders Network, and I for one am very happy that he is now beginning to apply his mastery of business into this field. (We talked a lot later that day on models and principles in social enterprise, and let me just tell you that it was quite the head-trip :p)

Dylan Wilk, co-founder of Human Nature, was as usual charming and funny, but still very effective in sharing the story of Human Nature, most certainly one of the most successful and scaled-up social enterprises in the Philippines. He started his talk by sharing the story of his transition from one of the richest young men in the UK into being one of GK’s staunches advocates and leaders – living proof that happiness is not always found in material wealth alone. In fact, he not only married to the GK cause, he literally married the daughter of Tito Tony, Anna Meloto-Wilk who is also the other leader of Human Nature (along with Dylan and Camille Meloto). Human Nature’s principles are Pro-Poor, Pro-Environment, and Pro-Philippines, and it is indeed gratifying to see how they are rewriting the rules of business as they further grow.

Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, President of Rags2Riches, talked of R2R, but wove it intricately with her message of interconnectivity – of how the decisions we make inadvertently affect the lives of others. She herself knows this from fact, having been awarded a scholarship by individuals whom she has never even met! That generosity certainly led to her Ateneo education which in turn molded her into the person that she is today. I myself firmly believe her perspective as well (and not only because she’s my wife :p) -

Rico Gonzalez then talked on the topic of navigating the start-up stage of social enterprises. Funnily enough, the topic requested of Rico was ‘avoiding the pitfalls of social enterprise’ – hinting of his pragmatic and well-studied approach to things. (On the side, Rico and I work closely together in Hapinoy, and I must say that his perspective and help has been instrumental in sharpening our thinking and actions). He talked on building business models (check out www.businessmodelgeneration.com) but perhaps the line I take with me from his talk was this – ‘Huwag mong isipin kong mahirap, isipin mo kung mahalaga’ (Don’t ask if it is difficult, ask if it is worth doing).

I then shared on – what else but Hapinoy of course! The organizers wanted me to talk on Innovation in Social Enterprise, and so I touched on how we can imagine and innovate on simple things – Hapinoy+ Stores from the humble sari-sari (sira-sira) store, Rags2Riches’ High-end Eco-Stylish Bags from recycled scrap, and Gawad Kalinga’s revitalized communities from slum communities.

Chit Juan rightfully ended the conference, touching on a lot of key points that all the previous speakers had elucidated on during the day. Chit of course has been one of the pioneers of social entrepreneurship (having gone the transition from being an entrepreneur-leader) – it just really seems that it is in her blood and DNA! Her social enterprise, ECHOStore, has now  diversified into multiple lines – touching on retail, community development, a design lab, and now even ECHO markets. She’s relentless – a true social entrepreneur.

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To end, I just want to give a heartfelt thanks to the organizers – the hospitality and warmth was just so inexplicably tangible! Jason, Rose, Churchille, Tahani, Joey, Tajen, Frances, Chris … you were such gracious hosts and hostesses – thank you so much and hope to see you in the upcoming Bootcamp in GK’s Enchanted Farm!

http://www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com/index.php//News/News/Entrepreneurs-for-the-World-Awards-2011

Four role-models whose entrepreneurial achievements and commitment to society make them for entrepreneurship creating wealth and social justice have been awarded the Entrepreneurs for the World Awards at this year’s World Entrepreneurship Forum held in Singapore.

The Young Entrepreneur Award, a new award category for entrepreneurs below 35, has recognised Ms Reese Fernandez, Co-Founder of Rags2Riches in the Philippines. Her venture has revolutionised women’s business practices and lives by transforming rugs from recycling scrap material into fashion handbags, eyeglasses or wine-bottle holders, sought by high-revenue customers, bringing revenues and self-confidence to employed women.

This year’s winner of the Social Entrepreneur Award is Mr William Drayton, Founder of Ashoka, USA. Mr Drayton was the first person to coin the term “social entrepreneurship” and started Ashoka in 1980. The not-for-profit organisation is established in 70 countries and supports the work of 3,000 Ashoka Fellows, selected for their impact on their social and business environments, in replicating and scaling their ventures so as to have a global impact.

The winner of this year’s Politician Award is Ms Anneli Hulthen, Mayor of Göteborg, Sweden. She is Mayor of an entrepreneurial city that has implemented several initiatives, such as “Expedition Forward”, “Business Emergency Programme” or “Brew House Incubator” widely praised among European cities for their positive impact on entrepreneurs’ ventures and the related creation of jobs.

Finally, this year’s Entrepreneur for the World Award has been given for the first time to a company, FOSUN International. The Shanghai-based conglomerate with a wide array of activities such as pharmaceuticals or healthcare, being present on the global front through its 7.1% stake in Club Med, generates an annual revenue of 4.5 billion euros and has perfectly aligned its strategy to answer Chinese population’s social needs (such as ageing population or new consumption habits).

The winners received their trophies, designed by the French jeweler Korloff, at a Gala Dinner graced by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Teo Chee Hean. The World Entrepreneurship Forum, drawing 130 selected entrepreneurship experts and thought leaders from 60 countries is being held for the first time in Singapore this year, from 2-5 November on the theme “Entrepreneurship – A Driver for Innovation and Technology”. A public gathering in NTU on 4 November morning allowed 450 persons from Singapore Business Community to benefit from the most outstanding entrepreneurial stories of Forum Members.

The RIIR Oliver Tolentino MASAYA Collection :

RIIR KANTINARES
Molded colorblock clutch in hand-woven Kantinares fabric accented with knitted cotton crochet arc. Kamagong bar accent with interior magnetic closure. Quilted cotton lining with interior pocket.

KANTINARES CLUTCH
Molded clutch in hand-woven Kantinares and Ikat fabric accented with knitted cotton crochet arc. Kamagong bar accent with interior magnetic closure. Quilted cotton lining with interior pocket.

RIIR HIYAS
Colorblock clutch in knitted cotton x-small basket weave with hand-woven Kantarines fabric. Zipper closure with tassel and native nut accent. Cotton lining with interior zip pocket.

RIIR BANIG CLUTCH
Molded clutch in knitted cotton x-small basket weave. Colorful Pandan leave (Banig) flap with magnetic snap closure. Quilted cotton lining.

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All these exquisite products are now available in Shangri-La Gift Shops, Firma, and Oliver Tolentino’s Botique Shop.

That sounds way too sensationalistic, and it probably is. But the drama of that statement is certainly rooted in truth.

Allow me to explain.

Several years ago, I got enamored with the concept of ‘innovation’.

So much so, in fact, that it became a personal buzzword, advocacy, unifying battle-cry.

I read all the books and delved into all of the websites. Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The Innovator’s Dilemma. Innovation : The Five Disciplines. Closing the Innovation Gap. Innovation to the Core. Open Innovation. Innovation Nation. Innovation X. If the book had the word ‘innovation’ in its title (even the sub-title), it had a 90% chance of ending up on my bookshelf. I would get indoctrinated in the religion of IDEO (the Shopping Cart video and the innovation bibles, The Art of Innovation and The Ten Faces of Innovation).

For a time, some really cool friends and I put up Kolektib – an Innovation Hub in the creative hustle-and-bustle of Cubao X. We did Innovation Workshops internally and externally. It was an exquisitely fun time.

Even social entrepreneurship, for me, was a form of innovation – albeit social innovation. Hapinoy and Rags2Riches are expressions of melding social development with business models, a rather revolutionary approach which would certainly qualify as innovating.

I eventually synthesized my knowledge. I wound up conceptualizing, creating, and teaching a class in Ateneo on Innovation. It would tackle the why’s, the what’s, the how’s of the topic. I wanted to transmit the spirit to a next generation of innovators which would try to conquer and/or change the world.

The one line i always wanted my students to remember : Innovate or Die.

But beginning last year, my innovation lens would slowly shift. Not on a different tangent, but rather on a different depth.

I’m significantly more experienced and quite wiser. For all intents and purposes, I’ve changed. But more importantly, the world has changed at a mind-spinning rate – far outstripping my own evolution.

The first decade of the 21st Century was characterized by dizzying change, hyper-competition, unbridled growth – all of the factors that led to an innovation explosion. Globalization was at full-swing, the Internet began to fulfill its promise of changing everything.

And everything seemed possible. Growth was so palpable and reachable, and so businesses began pouncing on the massiveness of the opportunity. Driven by sheer momentum, they just plowed full steam ahead.

An innovation avalanche would ensue.

Innovation and Design consultancies would have a field day. So many new products, services, processes, and business models would emerge. I should know – it’s what I taught :

How Zara had reinvented the supply chain, allowing them to launch new fashion lines at lightning speed.

How the Wii would tackle the Blue Ocean of game consoles, beating the higher-performing Xbox 360 and Playstations by going on a different tangent and tackling non-gamers.

How Procter & Gamble used Open Innovation and launched connect + develop, unleashing a torrent of growth for their brands under AG Lafley’s watch.

More consumers were opening their wallets, and companies were feasting.

But towards the end of the decade, the world would undergo yet another step-change, perhaps an even larger one than the last.

Crises of global proportions would enter the lexicon.

A financial crisis would infect the world over, leading to national economies teetering on the brink. It was a full-blown meltdown and it washed over countries like a worldwide tsunami.

And speaking of tsunamis, the world became a real-life disaster movie. Environmentalists have been banging the alarm bells on the planet for so long, but it’s certainly only in the past few years that climate change has become real to the person on the street. When Typhoon Ondoy hit the Philippines, it was a shock to the system – it dumped one month’s worth of rain in half a day, causing floods in areas we never imagined were possible.

This climate change crisis is of course linked to to the energy crisis – our over-dependence on carbon-based fuels. Generations ago it wasn’t tangible, but now we see just how finite non-renewable energy is. It’s like we’ve got lung cancer and yet ironically still need two packs of smokes a day just to keep on moving.

And while all this was happening, the gap between the rich and the poor continued to widen. The proportion of the world’s population that survives under $2 a day still goes between a third to one-half of the total human race! (depending on which statistics you look at). Without a doubt, the population and poverty crisis continues to rear its ugly head.

And so in the span of a decade, we went from an age of seemingly unbridled growth … and plummeted into an age of uncertainty. An Age of Massively Complex Problems.

And that’s why a nagging feeling in my gut gradually snowballed, until my lens shifted.

I remember some of the projects that were conceptualized in my Innovation Class. A better kind of toothpaste. Refillable packaging for laundry detergents. Heck, even an innovative cigarette that would light without matches. Of course there were some that were more interesting – especially those who were in the social innovation track.

But with all due respect to my former students, it was the teacher who was at fault. We were thinking too small. We were throwing our energies at the wrong things. (just look at my slides)

Power is useless, if misdirected. Same goes for Innovation.

Innovation is good at tackling any problem, but it can be so much greater if it tackled the right ones.

And so I’m drawing a line on the sand, demarcating where my old thinking ends and my new perspective begins :

The only problems worth solving, worth investing your life in, are meaningful ones.

In an Age of Massively Complex Problems, do we really need to design a better toothbrush?

Do we still want to use innovation to drive unbridled growth and overconsumption, for things that people don’t really need but we’d just want them to buy?

Do we want to continue ransacking the planet with novel products that don’t really add anything extraordinary to people’s lives?

I say, that may have its place in the world, but certainly not in mine.

I will invest my time, my resources, my life, in innovation that, frankly, matters.

Meaningful innovation that adds real value to people’s lives, that tackles real problems plaguing individuals, society, and the world.

A lot of Big Problems. A lot of Big Opportunities. A lot of Big Innovations needed.

I call this new evolution of my definition, Innovation(+). Innovation plus, Innovation positive, Innovation with meaning.

The time has come for us to put collective energies into innovations that can create positive differences in people’s lives, for society, and the world at large.

We need platforms for participation; Heck let’s take it a step further as Platforms for Activation – where people are actively engaged in helping things move not just onwards, but upwards.

And so it’s in these specific challenges that I will be investing my energies on :

1. Social Innovations at the Base-of-the-Pyramid
- How can we co-create business models, products, and services that serve essential needs for those that live under $2/day?
- How can we make the poor active participants and co-creators in the common drive to get them out of poverty?

2. Development of Technologies, Products, and Services that Positively Advance the Human Condition
- How can we create new innovations in education, healthcare, energy, and communications that sustainably serve the needs of this generation and the next?
- How do we use innovation and design thinking to tackle everyday problems of society – traffic gridlock, transportation, crime as some examples? (in fact, IDEO has evolved Design Thinking into tackling Big Problems – just look at Open IDEO).
- How can the Big Brands, Big Products, and Big Services reinvent themselves into positively advancing the human condition?

3. Harnessing the Web for Massive Connection, Collaboration, and Change
- As I mentioned earlier – how do we create Platforms for Activation? I can think of no better example than how Iceland recently engaged its citizens to write the constitution.
- How can we use web to either rebuild or create new institutions? Financial institutions, Educational Institutions, Healthcare Institutions, even Governments?

4. A New Kind of Society
- How do we transition a paradigm shift from the traditional economics of GDP into one that measures happiness and prosperity?
- How do we go from unbridled production-consumption-growth into true, sustainable living?
- How do we balance the currents of globalization, localization, and community?

5. Innovating for The Planet
- There’s just no way getting around tackling the Climate Crisis head-on, it’s quite simply the biggest problem that we as a collective species have to contend with.
- In fact, I love what Al Gore writes in his new book/app ‘Our Choice’. In addressing the Climate Crisis, he wants ‘to make the rescue of civilization the central organizing principle of our politics, economics, and action.’

So there. A new personal roadmap, a clearer direction, a manifesto on where I wish Innovation+ will go. Where it will take us, or where we can drive it towards.

One of my all-time favorite quotes is by technologist Alan Kay – “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Such wise words in an Age of Massively Complex Problems, an age which needs more and more of us to do Innovation(+).

Congratulations to the Rags2Riches team – special mention to Matt Pardinas, Nelson Baclayo, and the Nanays – for the successful launch of the RIIR Aranaz Fall Holiday Collection!

Unfortunately, Reese and I were unable to go – the first Rags2Riches event that we missed since inception, understandably so due to the Rolex Young Laureates Awarding :p – but I think the pictures below say it all. (thanks to Ed San Juan for the pics!). Special thanks as well to Rags2Riches partners ActivAsia (especially Direk Pogs, Rache, and Manny de Luna!), Patty Laurel (for graciously hosting), and Chin-Chin Gutierrez (R2R’s eco-ethical style ambassadress) for making the event such a sweet success.

Rags2Riches Team and the Nanays who make these wonderful products. “The Back End is the Front End!”

But of course, the lifeblood of the event was certainly the new collection. And with this one, RIIR Partner-Designer Amina Aranaz-Alunan has certainly pushed Rags2Riches to new heights with her exciting and exquisite eco-ethical style designs. Cheers to you Amina!

Here’s the new collection. For more details on where to buy, visit Rags2Riches’ website here.

Some time back, Pam Imperial got in touch through the Life’s Direction’s Community (thanks AJ!) about making a special episode of Channel [V]‘s V-Life on Social Entrepreneurs, featuring myself and Reese

Little did we know that it would really be a rather lengthy episode! (Well, the upside is I think we’ll just show this as our wedding AVP on December – just kidding, Reese! :p)

Wedding jokes aside, we gladly agreed to do it because we continuously want to advocate that social entrepreneurship can indeed be a career choice. It’s certainly not a short-term thing or project, it’s a whole life’s choice and path. And yes, it is indeed viable.

Anyway, here’s the episode which first aired on May 18 -

Part 1 :

Part 2 :

Part 3 :

Part 4 :

THE BAG THAT BREATHES LIFE
by Reese Fernandez

Rags2Riches has recently launched the RIIR by Rajo Laurel Tree Bag Project. It is a project that has been inspiring our team for the past few months now (when we were still preparing it).

The RIIR by Rajo Laurel Tree Bag is an exquisite, limited edition everyday bag created by 3 communities from different parts of the country. It is created using scrap cloth (for the handle), scrap thread (for the body of the bag), and scrap wood (for the buttons). What makes it even more exciting is that we will be planting ONE TREE FOR EVERY BAG SOLD! We love how all of these causes came together into one amazing product designed by one of the Philippines’ premier fashion designers, Mr. Rajo Laurel (www.rajolaurel.com)!

This was our event’s invitation card. =)

photo credit : Ed San Juan

Yes, the bags are beautiful and very functional. =) But what makes it even more beautiful are the hands that made them. It is my honor to introduce them.

The Weavers of Bangued, Abra.

The Women of Payatas, Rags2Riches Cooperative

We don’t have photos of the wood carvers of Pardo Cebu yet but as soon as I get them, I’ll acknowledge them in this blog. =)

Special thanks to my new found good friend Anya Lim, a wonderful lady who heads a social enterprise in Cebu called Ant Hill. You can visit her site here: anthillfabricgallery.multiply.com.

Of course, the launch and the product would not be possible without the talents and passion of my team. Thank you Matt Pardinas (sales and marketing manager), Michelle Smith (sales and marketing associate), Nelson Baclayo (Production Director), Jing Ludovice (Community Relations Officer), Miguel Abrera (Community Relations and Communications Officer), Helen Guerrero (Finance and HR Officer) Cynthia Cabrera (Community Expansion Supervisor, Payatas Cooperative Member), Jhane Abris (Production Supervisor), Fencia Fonte (Off-Site Production Supervisor, Payatas cooperative member), Nhing Estabillo (Production Coordinator, Payatas cooperative member), Kuya Yam, Kuya Marco, and all the communities who participated!

For orders and inquiries, you may email r2r_matt@yahoo.com. =)

We’ll be coming up with an amazing campaign soon!