Rags2Riches pushes for green living via its new home line

The ancient Roman architect Vitruvius wrote that a good design bears three major traits: (1) utility, in which the need for a solution is met; (2) firmness, which ensures that the creation can withstand wear and tear; and (3) delight, in that the creation is pleasing to the senses.  

 

Renowned architect and teacher Toby Guggenheimer proposes a fourth addition in the context of today’s rapidly developing world. That is, sustainability. 

 

Enter R2R Living, the new eco-ethical home line from locally based social enterprise and sustainable fashion brand, Rags2Riches. 

 

It’s a daunting word to throw around—sustainable—especially when talking about something as simple and enjoyable as decorating your living room. But behind each masterfully crafted R2R piece is the beauty of the process. 

 

A lasting weave

 

"Our products are all handmade, so by virtue of being handmade, the energy that you're using is actually human energy,” said R2R president and co-founder, Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, as she expressed her fascination with the weaving process which requires an immense stability. 

 

"For you to have a really good product that can pass that quality, the tension would have to be very even. So you can't be too mad or too dramatic when you are weaving. Your energy should be the same all throughout… It's amazing to me that people who are going through so much can have so much inner peace," she said of the R2R artisans who come from underprivileged communities and hail from difficult backgrounds.

 

Rags2Riches partners with these “empowered and dignified” artisans to create beautiful woven works of art that are not only exceptionally crafted, but also durable and sustainably produced. Their materials are all either recycled, upcycled, organic, or naturally sourced and they don’t add any chemicals during production.

 

Sustainable design

 

The launch of R2R Living was aptly held at the SoFA Design Institute, with the school’s dean, Arch. Toby Guggenheimer, sharing his insights on sustainability through design.

"In our world, in the designer's world, we're materialists. Some people may look at us as poets or artists, but ultimately everything that we do has a natural impact on the world. And so you also have to make a decision with respect to your own commitment to what that word 'sustainable' means," he said. 

 

"For me sustainability begins with values... it's like a moral value that you have to adopt.”

 

Whether for designers or clients, the choice to work with environmentally-friendly materials or a sustainable process requires a conscious effort. 

 

"We don't work in a vacuum... A designer always works with a client. And that in my experience has been a much bigger challenge… What we try to do is prepare our students to be armed with information, with arguments, with the courage to challenge and educate their clients."

 

Clearly a natural teacher, Guggenheimer stressed the importance of being “sufficiently educated,” not only for the designer but for the client as well. 

 

When building a house, it is the client’s responsibility to request insulation, solar panels, or the use of recycled materials. At the same time, these are features that the designer should also be able to suggest to a client who is unaware.

 

“Really the idea of designing to live a sustainable life is also one of designing with responsibility," he concluded.

 

Small but significant steps

 

On a smaller scale, everyone can make eco-ethical decisions. Whether it means using less paper, walking more instead of using a car, or, when it comes to design, avoiding products or processes that are harmful to the environment.

 

Fernandez-Ruiz outlined three simple steps to greener living. One is to "think of your house as a source of goodness." Second is to recycle, and last to "[add] one more question to every purchasing decision."

 

That is, something along the lines of, “What will this do to the world we are living in?”

 

"It's… very beautiful, very poetic, empathetic... the kind of thing that is at the heart of many religions. The idea of taking care of your brother or sister," said Guggenheimer of R2R’s entrepreneurial mission.  

 

Back to their roots

 

As part of their philanthropic and nationalistic mission, R2R has recently traversed greater distances and reached out to indigenous tribes all over the country. The new home line features such ethnic wonders as the T’nalak of the T’boli in South Cotabato and a fine Pandan fiber sourced from the faraway Mendanao tribe in Davao. 

 

Each throw pillow that features these special weaves is a product of collaboration between two very different and distant Filipino communities. Artisans from the indigenous community make the material while the Metro Manila-based artisans weave it together. The product is pieced together by hand at the R2R workshop and from there it lands into the laps of the style savvy and environmentally conscious alike.

 

"We started by creating better-looking rugs and bigger rugs. We actually started with home, come to think of it... and now we're going back to our roots," said Fernandez-Ruiz.

 

The products are delicately woven yet impressively firm to the touch. Not only are they beautiful to behold but they have an air of coziness about them, asserting their place in the home. Indeed, they were made for living. —KG, GMA News

 

R2R Living is now available at the Rags2Riches stores in Glorietta 1, 3rd floor (near National Bookstore and Vanilla Cupcake Bakery), and Rockwell Power Plant Mall, 3rd floor (near the cinemas and Sunnies Studios).