When Kate Billones, a Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Fashion Design at La Consolacion College Bacolod, was asked to design a costume for the Habi ng Lahi: Coconut Costume Challenge at COCOLinarya Turismo 2025, she saw more than just a chance to showcase artistry. She saw an opportunity to prove that fashion can be both beautiful and sustainable.
With only two weeks to prepare, Billones created a costume inspired by Bacolod’s MassKara Festival — but with a twist. Crafted almost entirely from biodegradable materials, the piece relied on woven coconut leaves, midribs, and shells, transforming humble, natural resources into a striking festival costume.
Her longtime model and friend, Erika “Ekay” Gumban, together with tourism student Austin John Braganza, wore the design on August 30. The pair’s confident performance helped earn LCC Bacolod the Silver Award in the category.
The project wasn’t easy. Billones juggled work deadlines while piecing together the intricate design, but she wasn’t alone. Friends and classmates — Bert, Ming, Janine, and Jesa — joined her late nights of weaving and assembling, ensuring the vision came alive. “Despite the hectic schedule, I couldn’t have pulled it off alone,” Billones wrote in a Facebook post.
She described the process as both exhausting and fulfilling. “Bringing the MassKara Festival to the national stage means so much,” she said. “To do it with biodegradable materials shows that design can honor culture while caring for the environment.”
The costume was part of LCC Bacolod’s broader success at COCOLinarya Turismo 2025, where the school emerged as Overall Champion in the Tourism Skills Cup, besting institutions from across the country. The event, held Aug. 28 to Sept. 2 in celebration of the 39th National Coconut Week, was organized by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Market Development, Promotions and OTOP (DTI-BMDPO), Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP), and the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Educators of the Philippines (COHREP), in partnership with Lyceum of the Philippines University-Laguna and COHREP regional chapters.
For Billones, however, the silver medal and national recognition were secondary. What mattered most was proving that creativity, culture, and sustainability could come together in one design. “This is more than just a costume,” she said. “It’s a statement that our festivals, our identity, and our future can be celebrated responsibly.”