In the third year of upcoming youth-led fashion show Fashion Against Fascism & Fossil Fuels 2024, a tale of horror is told through clothing, performance, and art.
Related: These Filipino Youth Activists Used A Fashion Show To Highlight Climate and Social Justice
The intersection of fashion and politics is a space where people not only express their creativity and artistry, but also connect to and engage with the world beyond themselves. Whether it’s designs on a t-shirt or a sculpture of an avant-garde piece, fashion as artistic expression can also be a medium through which people can send a message and make an impact.
The common ways in which advocacy and fashion intersect is perhaps seen through instances where activists storm runways with placards protesting fur and leather or the harm the fashion industry causes to people and environment. But there are no bounds to people’s creativity, and when partnered with a drive to fight for what’s right and just, they can turn just about anything on its head to send powerful messages.
For instance, this September, Friday the 13th, witness the horrors of the state of our society and environment through a show that weaves fashion, art, and advocacy together in a collective call for action and justice.
THE HORROR: Fashion Against Fascism and Fossil Fuels 2024 is a youth-activist-led fashion show organized by Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines which aims to highlight the political underpinnings of the experience of the climate crisis in the Philippines and reach a broader audience through the creative intersection of fashion, makeup, performance, and environmental advocacy.
Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP) is a nationwide alliance of youth organizations, individuals, and student councils that advocate for immediate global climate action. This is their third year organizing the show, their calls getting louder and more insistent as government inaction only exacerbates the effects of climate change.
THE HORROR: Fashion Against Fascism and Fossil Fuels 2024 is a free show, but you can donate 300 PHP as a student or 1000 PHP as a non-student to support the designers, organizations, and causes fought for. The show will start at 8:30 PM and will be held at the Ignacio B. Gimenez-KAL (IBG-KAL) Theater at the University of the Philippines Diliman. There will also be an afterparty at the end of the show. You can RSVP for FAFFF 2024 here.
RESISTANCE ON THE RUNWAY
Though plenty often think runway shows are all about high fashion, luxury, and haute couture, FAFFF 2024 brings fashion down to reality, using its potential as a medium to expose injustices, increase awareness on climate-related issues, elicit discourse, and engage with different sectors and communities.
FAFFF 2023 | Photo by Angekyla Barroquillo
The main calls of FAFFF focus on YACAP’s work towards climate and social justice. Through six main themes, the fashion show aims to highlight the effects of fossil fuels on the environment and the atrocities committed against people coming to its defense.
The six main themes include: tree planting as greenwashing, an insufficient response to climate vulnerability, persistent political and economic interest in fossil fuels, lack of a just transition framework and promotion of False Solutions, defense of national patrimony and biodiversity, and the struggles of environmental defenders.
HISTORY AND DESTRUCTION
The very first Fashion Against Fascism and Fossil Fuels show in 2022 was borne out of YACAP’s desire to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos’ martial law and stress the importance of proper governance in addressing climate issues. Now, as the years under his son’s governance went on, YACAP and participating organizations continue to shed light on the lack of meaningful action on the part of those with the power to change things.
Given that the Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of the climate crisis, and loss of life, property, and liberty are consequences of neglecting this crisis, there remains a need to demand accountability and action from leaders and governments.
In order to do this, YACAP took the initiative to hold a fashion show in the hopes of engaging with different sectors via advocacy through art and fashion. On its first year, themed Sibol Society, FAFFF threw it back to the 70s and the martial law era, showcasing 70s-inspired fashion and art as they amplified calls for democracy and human rights.
On its second, Empire of the Son: Drought and Deluge, YACAP used “drought” to symbolize the environmental concerns plaguing the nation, and “deluge” to represent socio-political injustices faced by Filipinos.
“[This time], we wanted to emphasize the horror aspect of climate change,” Alab Mirasol Ayroso, climate activist and YACAP organizer, shares with NYLON Manila. Because, truly, what’s scarier than the state of our climate and society?
“Through the prism of horror,” artist and show director Karl Castro further explains, “We can view how different issues affect the climate struggle.”
Karl was not coy about the contradiction of holding a fashion show to get their messages across when the fashion industry is one of the worst polluters. But, he says, they’re not afraid to address it. The very existence of FAFFF 2024 touches upon intersectional concepts involving the political economy of consumption and production, sustainability and waste production, fashion as culture, and design as resistance. Disrupting runways is one way to send a message—what about when the entire runway is the message?
FAFFF 2023 | Photo by Angekyla Barroquillo
With show sections representing phenomena like El Niño and La Niña, as well as designs, makeup, and artwork that are political in its creation and message, made by activist designers and artists passionate and committed to the causes they champion, each fashion show is an effort of remembrance and resistance.
GOING BIGGER, BOLDER, AND BRAVER
This year, FAFFF is going the extra mile. It may not be your typical fashion show, but with a bigger space, a grander production, and committed participants, old and new, Fashion Against Fascism and Fossil Fuels 2024 promises to bring the horror, the elegance, and the advocacy—with style, but without fear.
As usual, the show will feature local artists and designers who are, as YACAP says, aligned with the values and principles of the show. The lineup includes Santi Obceña, Albert Raqueño, Aila Bathan, Bry Barrios, Nobody, Tarantadong Kalbo, and more.
Their casting process is also very inclusive, as they give a chance to everyone regardless of looks, age, and occupation. Last year, musician Zild, politician Sarah Elago, drag performers, as well as members of the organizations that are part of YACAP served as models.
This year, audiences will see models, advocates, artists, senatorial candidates, and more walk the runway, deepening the connection between people, clothing, and planet. More than just a showcase of clothing, it’s about the power that fashion and art gives to people and communities, designers and artists, allowing them to be defiant with every stitch, every stroke, and every step.
Photos courtesy of Fashion Against Fascism & Fossil Fuels 2024 & YACAP.
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