Since he was a child, John Ablaza has always loved being surrounded by nature. This love for nature extended to everything he was passionate about including fashion design.

Born in Manila, Philippines and raised in Caloocan City, the nature lover took up horticulture at the De La Salle Araneta University and later studied fashion design at the then Premier Fashion Arts School in Manila.

Now known as an international sustainable fashion designer, Ablaza is spreading his legacy by not only creating clothes, bow ties, purses and accessories, using indigenous materials from the Philippines, but also doing mentorship programs and workshops in Africa and the Bahamas, collaborating with other artisans and designers on the use of sustainable materials in fashion.

 

Ablaza said, “I have always used indigenous materials, mostly sourced from the Philippines in Cebu, Bohol, Bicol, and Mindoro like coco beads, wood beads, tree bark, seashells, lumbang [candlenut] seeds, sig id [derived from the stems of a reed grass], and dalet [sourced from the tree bark]. I have also featured some of my important collaborations with the artisans and women of the Mangyan tribe in Mindoro, Philippines, and my collaborations with the Zimbabwe artisans.”

 

Representation is also important to Ablaza. What better way to represent his country than by showcasing his sustainable fashion designs internationally?

Below are excerpts of our interview via email with Ablaza:

When did you decide to become a fashion designer? Who inspired you to become one?

At a very young age, I already had a passion for designing. I remember dressing up my sisters’ dolls when I was just nine years old. During those times, my grandmother taught me how to stitch sampaguita [the Philippines’ national flower] garlands and sew clothes by hand. I always admired how she dressed up with so much grace and elegance. She was the one who inspired me to pursue fashion design.

Why did you become a sustainable fashion designer?

I chose to be involved in sustainable fashion because I want to do my share in protecting Mother Nature and providing livelihood to people who gather sustainable materials.

In 2012, I had the rare opportunity to collaborate with the Ayala Foundation through the leadership of Bea Zobel de Ayala, the grand matriarch of the prominent Ayala clan in the Philippines.

I volunteered to train and provide knowledge in arts and crafts to the tribal women of the Mangyan tribe in Mindoro, Philippines.

And this paved the way for further collaboration with them. I came up with the idea of designing this very special bow tie and purses handmade and embellished with natural materials. Proceeds of the sale go to the tribe and to my favored charity, St Martin de Porres special school in Cebu City, Philippines. They take care of children with autism and down syndrome.

Talk about your workshops in Zimbabwe, Bahamas, and other parts of the world as well as in the Philippines and how you got involved in this. Do you continue this to the present day?

In 2016, the United States Embassy in Zimbabwe invited me to conduct a month-long mentorship program for aspiring designers and artisans in three cities of Zimbabwe including Harare, Bulawayo, and Victoria Falls. The program was such a big success that some of the workshop participants got the opportunity to showcase their work through my shows in San Francisco, New York, Winnipeg, and Toronto. Four of them were awarded the Mandela Fellowship award to the United States. One got a scholarship for a fashion course in Paris, and some did shows in South Africa and Morocco.

 

In 2018, my team and I went back to Zimbabwe on our personal initiative to hold another mentorship program which we called “Project Africa 102.” It was equally successful as the first program.

In July and August 2022, we are set to go back to Africa to do the third series of the mentorship program we dubbed “Project Africa 103” which will cover Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana.

Our goal is to inspire and boost the morale of the people and to move on with their lives after the COVID pandemic.

What did you learn from working with artisans and fashion designers in these workshops?

For me, doing this mentorship program is one of the most important highlights of my 35 years in the fashion industry. The honor of sharing your knowledge means more than the glamour and glitter of fashion. It’s more rewarding than just doing your curtain call and receiving a bouquet in the finale of every fashion show presentation. The reward of doing this is humbling. It also makes me proud that I get to share a lasting legacy. Shared knowledge is something that can be transferred from generation to generation. I will forever be grateful for this opportunity.

Talk about the unique native bow ties you make, what it represents, as well as your sustainable clothes.

The native bow tie is a product of my collaboration with the women of the Mangyan Tribe in Mindoro, Philippines. They’re handmade and embellished with natural materials, including seeds, wood beads, and seashells.

And my sustainable clothes are made of natural materials as well, including plant-derived materials like cotton, ramie, and abaca and are embroidered with coco beads, seeds, and tree bark.

I believe these works represent Filipino ingenuity and craftsmanship at its best. They convey the message that we should protect what nature is providing us in abundance because we benefit a lot from them.

My collaboration with the Mangyan Tribe inspired me to create what I now consider my museum piece creations. Three of the sustainable dresses were done in more than 2,000 hours of hard work, love, a lot of passion, and dedication.

 

What are you busy with right now and what are your future projects?

This year, I have the “Power of Strings Fashion Show” in June in Los Angeles; the “Le Petite Couture Exhibit” in June at the Philippine Embassy in Paris, France; the “Project Africa 103” workshop in July/August in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana; the Milan Fashion Week in September; and in October in New York, I will launch “John Ablaza x Anne b” which is a collaboration with Anne Corpuz Bacalso, a talented Filipina accessories designer from Cebu City who is now based in Calgary, Canada. She worked with me in my shows in Canada in 2019.