Aid Couture pre-loved clothing sale for the Philippine Red Cross via Leo Burnett Manila
An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, leaving thousands of casualties. Each year, the Philippine National Red Cross receives 18 tons of donated clothes. A good number of these are fashionable pieces that are not appropriate for everyday wear of calamity victims. In the aftermath of a typhoon, when the hot sun is up again, leather jackets and long gowns are of no practical use to the intended recipients of this donation. What they need are food and daily essentials that will help with their survival needs, so Leo Burnett Manila looked for a way to convert fashion to food, water and medicine.
Aid Couture started with the thorough sorting of donated clothes. Fashion finds were segregated. They were hauled and washed with Ariel detergent and Downy fabric conditioner in a central laundry station. Top stylists then created fashionable ensembles which were promoted through social media, press, posters and TV show features.
An 11x 21 sq. meter pop-up store in the middle of a busy mall was set up. The cause was evident in design details: dressing rooms with stretchers as doors, price tags and receipts with life essential equivalents. The resurrected fashionable clothes were then displayed boutique-style in a one-of-a-kind fashion sale.
Over the course of two days, Aid Couture raised almost 600,000 pesos from clothes that would otherwise have been left rotting in the Red Cross warehouses. The real-time purchase converter summarized this as amounting to 8,610 hot meals, 2,640 bottles of water, 255 medicine kits, 372 wound cleanser kits, 597 blanket and mat sets, 258 mosquito nets, 157 hygiene kits and 375 food supply packs. All these were provided to Super Typhoon Haiyan victims. With the success of the first Aid Couture, it will now become a regular programme that will continue to provide relief to calamity victims and hopefully save more lives.
Credits – Chief Creative Officer: Raoul Panes. Creative Director: Dante Dizon. Art Directors: Ella Quiogue, A.M. Valdez, Steph Mangalindan, Dean Delos Santos. Copywriters: Aimee Espiritu, Lexie Dy. Digital Team: Dino Cabrera, Maui Reyes, Fritz Valientes, Robert Perez, Jason Lorenzo, James Angeles, Carlo Dionisio, Meng Morales, Jarmaine Sotto. Client Servicing: Rodenick Barbosa, Chichay Matias, Andy Rivera. Activation Team: Stel Angeles, Jenna Adevoso, Keena Piedad. Production Team: Lady Cajanding (TV), May Dalisay (Print) and Rusby Gonzales (Print), SAGA (Event). Production house: Hub Director/Photographer: Ben Chan. Marketing Director: Raffy Fajardo. Brand Manage: Mukta Maheshwari.