Five leading ladies from Singapore’s environmental scene took to the catwalk in bespoke outfits upcycled from donated clothing at this year’s EcoBank Bazaar and Fashion 3R event, to raise awareness of fashion’s damaging impact on the environment and the need to find more sustainable ways of consuming clothing.

Actress Judee Tan, Managing Director of 100 Resilient Cities Lauren Sorkin, 938NOW deejay Charlotte Mei, Artist and Fashion Revolution’s Laura Francois, and Founder of Green Drinks Olivia Choong walked the sustainability talk at the Fashion 3R Eco Fashion Show as part of the launch of this year’s EcoBank at CDL’s City Square Mall.

The five, as well as Guest-of-Honour and Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources Dr Amy Khor, donned hand-crafted garments made from second-hand clothing donated to EcoBank. Designed by sustainability non-profit The Fashion Pulpit, five of the outfits were on display and for sale that weekend, with proceeds going towards Arc Children’s Centre, to support children with cancer or other life-threatening illnesses and their families.

EcoBank is an annual zero waste event, organised by CDL and Eco-Business, in support of Singapore’s Year of Zero Waste in 2019.

In addition to the fashion show, the EcoBank Bazaar, which ran from 1 to 3 March 2019, featured a sale of brand name bags and apparel, exquisite art pieces, electronics and other premium items donated by the general public. Other activities included a zero-waste workshop for youths by social enterprise Secondsguru, a style showcase by students from Raffles College of Higher Education, and booths to educate the public about responsible shopping and the threat of microfibres to our oceans.

EcoBank also launched its first-ever Grab Bag Sale concurrently at CDL’s City Industrial Building. Every $10 donated to Arc Children’s Centre via fundraising site Giving.sg entitled each donor to one tote bag’s worth of pre-loved toys, clothing, accessories and books of their choosing.

Ms Esther An, CDL Chief Sustainability Officer, Co-Organiser of EcoBank and Fashion 3R, said, “At CDL, we have a long-standing sustainability commitment to our business, the community and the environment. In the Year Towards Zero Waste for Singapore, our initiatives such as EcoBank and Fashion 3R bring the People, Public and Private sectors together to break the typical ‘consume and dispose’ cycle and provide an avenue for climate action.”

“We are glad to see that more and more people are giving their pre-loved items a new lease of life through recycling and are adopting more sustainable ways of consumption. At the same time, we are heartened by the strong support and donations from members of the public. Proceeds from the EcoBank Bazaar will make a difference to the lives of the beneficiaries and their families.”

The Bazaar concluded two months of efforts to raise awareness and collect pre-loved items to highlight the issue of waste generation in Singapore. From 8 January to 1 February 2019, EcoBank collection points were set up at seven CDL commercial buildings across Singapore to collect pre-loved clothing, toys, books and accessories that can be reused. More than 800 volunteers spent 3,000 hours sorting and curating the collection of about 18.5 tonnes or 18,500 kg of goods.