Leather and Hide Council of America Partners with the Fashion Accessory Makers of the Philippines to Launch Real Leather. Stay Different. Student Leather Design Competition 2023 in the Philippines

Washington, DC – The Leather and Hide Council of America (L&HCA) and the Fashion Accessory Makers of the Philippines (FAMPh) have partnered to launch the Real Leather. Stay Different. Student Leather Design Competition 2023 (RLSD Philippine Student Design Competition 2023). The new partnership, which commits to ‘educating the next generation of creatives’, aims to reshape education around the production and use of sustainable leather in the Philippines.

Through the competition, L&HCA and FAMPh will promote the development of sustainable leather production and leather use in the Philippines. Real Leather. Stay Different. has a strong ethos of supporting the next generation of designers with an aim to re-build, re-educate, and re-position. The new partnership brings to the forefront a common set of values to support sustainable leather value chains and emerging creatives through education.

The RLSD Philippine Student Design Competition 2023 is open to talent studying in art and design schools and colleges in the Philippines. Participants will be challenged to design a single piece of apparel, accessory, or footwear item using natural materials and 50% or more leather. Shortlisted finalists will be invited to create their design concept with the assistance of FAMPh and local sponsors. The design of the Overall Winner of the Philippines will be professionally made to form part of a capsule collection showcasing the best international talent and unveiled at an event hosted in Europe in October 2023 organized by L&HCA.

Gina Nebrida Ty, President at the Fashion Accessory Makers of the Philippines, said:

“This is definitely exciting times for the Philippine fashion industry as we launch the country's first national leather competition amongst university and college students, in partnership with Washington DC-based L&HCA, one of the world's leading leather organizations. And to echo the ethos of FAMPh, we look forward to seeing a new generation of Filipino creatives, through their design entries, which will showcase and highlight excellent Filipino craftsmanship & unique ingenuity, through the use & marriage of Philippine genuine leather and beautifully-handcrafted local indigenous fabrics and materials. While from the other side of the spectrum, this partnership between FAMPh and L&HCA will give a major boost to the Philippine Tannery group, in the hope that we can further help revitalize, modernize and strengthen the local leather industry, through shared best practices, learnings and techniques from L&HCA."

Steve Sothmann, President of the Leather and Hide Council of America, commented:

“The competition’s mission is to spark the interest of the Philippine designers to work with responsibly produced real leather which puts hides that would otherwise go to waste, to good use. Real leather doesn’t just look good, it is better for the environment than its manmade alternatives and they make products so durable that each can last a lifetime – its quintessentially ‘slow fashion’.

“Too many of our fashion choices end up in landfill, creating an unwanted legacy from today’s society that will damage the environment for centuries. Fast fashion means not only more consumption, but the increased use of fossil fuels and associated environmental impacts in the form of toxics and microfibers. Working with FAMPh gives us the opportunity to empower the next generation with skills that reduce waste in the design process.”

For more information on the Real Leather. Stay Different. Design Competition 2023 in various countries and regions, visit https://chooserealleather.com/competition/.

###

For more information on RLSD please visit:
https://chooserealleather.com/sustainability/
https://chooserealleather.com/international-competition/#/projects

ABOUT THE LEATHER AND HIDE COUNCIL OF AMERICA

The Leather & Hide Council of America (L&HCA), founded in 1917, is a powerful voice for the hide and leather sector. The council supports the industry through government engagement, public relations, and international trade assistance and support. L&HCA works with the international leather industry to support leather trade and to provide the insights and support services necessary for success.

As well as promoting the quality of US-sourced products, L&HCA also lead the way working to establish and promote best practice in leather production, to set new international standards in sustainability and traceability, and to promote those values to stakeholders around the world. Important stakeholder communication efforts include Real Leather. Stay Different. to share leather’s story with consumers worldwide. L&HCA is at the forefront of the industry’s needs, providing the industry and stakeholders with education and technical information to compete in today’s global marketplace.

ABOUT THE FASHION ACCESSORY MAKERS OF THE PHILLIPINES

Established in August 2020, the FASHION ACCESSORY MAKERS OF THE PHILIPPINES(FAMPh) is the Philippines’ first business support organization (or BSO) and a non-stock, non-profit organization of fashion accessory designers, makers and manufacturers. Created to have a collective voice and representation for fashion accessory designers and manufacturers in the Philippines, FAMPh covers various sectors i.e. Bags, Custom Jewelry, Shoes, Hats, Scarves and other fashion accessories. FAMPh has, in its membership roster, the biggest fashion accessory brands in the country, including new, small & medium-sized fashion accessory brands. To be part of the FAMPh organization, the Members are highly encouraged to dominantly use Filipino-made & indigenous local materials to showcase Filipino craftsmanship & ingenuity.

“Crafting our future together to highlight Filipino craftsmanship & ingenuity”, this is the dictum and proclamation that FAMPh aim to live by since its 2020 inception. The vision of FAMPh is for its members to maximize its fullest potential by highlighting its unique craftsmanship & artistry and to promote and strengthen its global presence in the international fashion industry.

ABOUT REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT.

Real Leather. Stay Different. is a global campaign that has reached some 750 million people and hundreds of thousands of students. It makes the case for cattle leather (and other natural materials) and for making the best use of society’s waste and that hides, as the by-product of the dairy and meat industries, should be considered before looking to the petrochemical industries for manmade materials. Flexible and durable, leather is the natural alternative to fast fashion.

The Philippine Student Design Competition 2023 will run alongside the annual International Student Design Competition and regional competitions in Italy, China, the Nordics, Taiwan and the UK as well as the showcase in Africa. These competitions and showcase are run by Real Leather. Stay Different. on behalf of the Leather & Hide Council of America [L&HCA]. US Leather accounts for more than 10% of all hides produced globally each year. As such, L&HCA recognizes its role and responsibility in promoting leather to a broad audience and in working with the industry around the world to ensure best practice and a sustainable future. For more information, please visit https://chooserealleather.com/sustainability/.