Designing for Infinity
Speakers and Moderators
DAY 1
MAY 30, MONDAY
BUILDING A CIRCULAR ORGANIZATION
Pauline Suaco-Juan
DTI-CITEM
Even before joining public service, Pauline Suaco-Juan has always been a champion of Filipino creativity and ingenuity. During her 15-year stint as the esteemed Editor-in-chief of Preview Magazine and Style Bible, she has helped elevate Filipino talents by sharing stories of the local artistry and industry alongside the world’s.
As the Executive Director of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), she leads efforts to promote Philippine export products and services in the global market through the agency’s roster of signature events and international participations. Determined to guide CITEM through digitalization, Executive Director Pauline is paving the way for the well-loved trade shows of the agency to thrive in the 21st century with contemporary branding strategies and a revitalized online presence.
Anna Lagon
BAYO
Anna Lagon's career currently revolves around fashion
retail and social entrepreneurship. She is the co-CEO and Chief Creative Officer of local fashion retail brands Bayo, Unica, Viseversa, online platform styleshops.com.ph, and
Bayo Foundation, which serves as the SR arm of the group of companies.
She advocates and promotes women's empowerment as a necessary tool for nation-building. In line with this, she has been actively supporting weavers in various communities all over the Philippines by giving them livelihood projects through the brand's foundation and retail arms. Anna is also at the forefront of reviving the sericulture industry by encouraging more women to take up silkworm farming once again to prop up their source of income. She has been leading the efforts of the retail brands in adopting sustainability as a way of making and selling clothes. Her leadership in the company has led Bayo to become the first fashion brand in the Philippines to become a participant-member of the prestigious United Nations Global Compact.
Bea Valdes and Marga Valdes
Valdes Designs
Valdes Designs is a luxury accessories and design workshop established by sisters, Bea and Marga in 2004. The workshop specializes in highly skilled artisanal work, slow design and conscious craft . They are both actively engaged in advocating for sustainability and promoting the circular economy.
Morgane Parizot
Redress
Morgane oversees the education facet of Redress' flagship programme, the Redress Design Award. Trained as a chemist and holding an MSc from the French Textile Engineering School ENSAIT, she has a deep understanding of materials and a strong knowledge in textiles. She has over 8 years of experience in the apparel industry with companies such as Adidas and PVH, holding positions in sourcing, product development and more recently product & digital innovation. A certified Design Thinking practitioner with IDEO U and a firm believer that sustainable practices are the only future possible, Morgane is driven by creating human-centric innovative solutions that generate positive impact. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge and pushing the sustainability agenda.
Jessie Jiang
Basically Borrowed
Jessie Jiang is the founder of Basically Borrowed, a Manila-based community and content platform focused on fashion sustainability. In her previous career, Jessie has worked as a journalist for TIME magazine, where she covered everything from politics to the Internet economy in China. More recently, she has spent 5 years in business development leadership roles across Southeast Asia. Jessie holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Peking University, as well as an MBA from INSEAD.
DAY 2
MAY 31, TUESDAY
MATERIALITY AND SUPPLY CHAIN
Kathleen B. Aviso
Dean of the Gokongwei College of Engineering of De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
Kathleen B. Aviso is a University Fellow, a Professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering, and currently the Dean of the Gokongwei College of Engineering of De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. Her main research interest is the development of decision support tools for environmental decision-making, which have been applied for the design of systems such as eco-industrial parks and low-carbon energy systems.
She is currently an executive editor for the Journal of Cleaner Production (published by Elsevier) and an editor for the South African Journal of Chemical Engineering (Elsevier). She is the author of the book Input-Output Models for Sustainable Industrial Systems. For her scientific work, Prof. Aviso has received awards multiple scientific awards from government and professional organizations in the Philippines.
Raia Gomez
Relevé
Raia Gomez is the founder of Relevé Fashion: the inaugural retail partner of the Conscious Fashion Campaign, supported by the United Nations Office for Partnerships. It was while she was based in New York City, earning a degree in accessories design and working at the intersection of the styling and entertainment industries, that Raia became aware of the social and environmental impact of the fashion industry. She founded Relevé Fashion in London out of her desire to transform the fashion experience into a form of positive social action. The platform is a premier destination for ethical brands and sustainable fashion for social impact, supporting its official nonprofit partners with every purchase and at no extra cost.
Chuck Lazaro
AsiaTex
Chuck is the CEO of Ananas Anam, the makers of Piñatex®, an innovative natural textile made fro waste pineapple leaf fibre, and a Certified B Corporation®
His expertise lies within and beyond Philippine Fiber Textile Supply Chain, Sustainable Fiber Extraction & Treatment Solutions, Spinning Production and Weaving Production and Design.
Dir. Celia Elumba
Philippine Textile Research Institute
She is the Director of the Philippine Textile Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology. She spearheads textile industry research, development and collaboration integrating supply and value chains through science, technology and innovation; focusing on the campaign of TELA which stands for Textiles Empowering Lives Anew. TELA, which was coined by the Director herself has been the brand of DOST-PTRI’s initiatives including stakeholders engagements known to the Institute as TELA Serye, all these arein support to boost the Philippine textile and allied industries global competitiveness.
Dir. Elumba has decades of extensive experience in the field of apparel and textile industry having worked in companies such as Swire &Maclaine Ltd., R.H, Macy & Co., Liz Claiborne International Ltd., and Igedo Fashions, Inc. Just before taking leadership of PTRI she has also been part of DTI’s Garment and Textile Industry Development Office where she also worked closely with PTRI in supporting the needs of our local textile and garment industry. She was a faculty member of the Institute for Integrality. She also held advocacy work for professional and non-government organizations such as the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines, Alay Buhay Community Development Foundation, Inc. and the Alliance for the Family, Inc.
In 2014, she was recognized by the University of the Philippines, College of Home Economics as Distinguished Alumna.
Lorenza Wong
Founder, Fashion Farmer, and a cooperative member of the Sagana Marinduque
Agriculture Cooperative
Lorenza Wong is a textile consultant and an adjunct professor of Textiles at Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design - The Newschool and Sustainable Fashion at Harvard. Lorenza is known to be a highly creative and technical textile innovator with a passion for sustainable textiles. With more than 30 years of industry experience and achievements as a fashion and apparel executive with expertise in global raw material sourcing, fabric research and development, textile innovation, and driving product lifecycle management, Lorenza is dedicated to creating the availability and accessibility of local natural raw materials through regenerative farming. Lorenza holds an MS in International Fashion Marketing with a focus on sustainability from Glasgow Caledonia NY College, MS in Textile Science from Cornell University and a BS in Textile Design from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science.
Michael E. Claparols
Philippine Fashion Coalition, TAC
He is the co-founder of Creative Definitions, an enviro-social enterprise currently at the forefront of producing Philippine tropical fabrics from pineapple leaf fibers. His long-term goal is to establish a sustainable value chain in the production of environmentally friendly and plant-based textiles and value-added products in order to serve both local and international markets.
He currently seats as a board of trustee of the Association of Negros Producers and the HABI The Philippine Textile Council. He is also the head of the Textiles, Arts and Crafts (TAC) Sector of the Philippine Fashion Coalition.
DAY 3
JUNE 1, WEDNESDAY
COMMUNICATING TRANSPARENCY
Marga Valdes-Trinidad
Valdes Design
A luxury accessories and design workshop established with her sister Bea Valdes in 2004. The workshop specializes in highly skilled artisanal work, slow design and conscious craft. They are both actively engaged in advocating for sustainability and promoting the circular economy.
Pam Quiñones
Vestido, Vogue Philippines
For almost two decades, Pam Quiñones has become a household name in the Philippine fashion industry. Juggling many hats, she has built her career crafting iconic fashion images for many fashion magazines , styling artists and celebrities into muses, and mentoring an industry of sartorial storytellers. She has built Qurator Studio from a styling incubator to a representation agency, while taking on editor roles in various fashion magazines.
Now, she wears a chic white hat with Vestido, an accessible and affordable fashion rental space that promotes lessening consumption, and extending the lifespan of quality clothing. Furthermore, this year, she returns to her publishing roots and joins Vogue Philippines as its Fashion Director.
Ping Manongdo
Eco-Business
Ping is Southeast Asia partnerships manager and Philippines country head with Eco-Business, APAC's largest sustainability media and ESG solutions platform. Headquartered in Singapore, we have a presence in Manila, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangalore and journalists and correspondents across the globe.
She is directly responsible for engaging with businesses invested in thought leadership conversations on sustainable business, corporate responsibility, ESG finance, climate change, sustainable production and consumption, renewable energy, waste, sustainable agriculture, smart cities, among other topics anchored on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In her role, Ping delivers end-to-end solutions for partners around multi-media content and high-level stakeholder engagement events.
She has over 10 years of project management and journalism experience.
Marvin Conanan
Purveyr
Marvin Conanan is a creative director, producer, and editor who works on various projects from publishing, design, branding, and production. The founder of the media brand PURVEYR has been participating and contributing to the Philippine creative culture for 9 years with his partner and co-owner, Sara Conanan. Within that period, Marvin has worked with different local and global groups, organizations, brands, and institutions to push his advocacy, “to propel and propagate creativity through Filipino culture, talent, and stories.”
Prince Jimdel Ventura
Fashion Revolution, Philippines
Prince Jimdel Ventura is a fashion social technopreneur, consultant, designer, stylist, and the lead champion of circular fashion in the Philippines. He is the Spokesperson of Fashion Revolution Philippines who aims to revolutionize fashion and mindsets by raising awareness about the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the industry and addressing the issues both producers and consumers face today.
Prince is also the Founder and CEO of fashion tech startup Wear Forward, a Climate Reality Leader of The Climate Reality Project, a Youth 4 Sustainable Cities Ambassador of MakeSense, and the Philippines’ 2021 Climate Ambassador of the Global Youth Climate Network. He is the most sought-after speaker for sustainable and circular fashion lectures, workshops, and other events in the country.