While sustainable fashion has been all the rage these days, what if you could be environmentally sustainable, fashionable - and make a small difference in the world and transform the lives of hundreds of destitute women before you even hit the age of 30?

That's precisely what 25-year-old Reese Fernandez from the Philippines has done. In 2007, she, along with a group of talented philanthropists, established the social enterprise company Rags2Riches to help hundreds of impoverished Filipino women escape poverty by transforming scrap material into eco-friendly, fashionable products, then selling them directly to high-end boutiques to earn a profit.

The idea of starting a social business enterprise was sparked by the shocking realities Fernandez and fellow founders of Rags2Riches witnessed at a Manila waste dump called Payatas, home to 12,000 families. Stay-at-home mothers in this area weave foot rugs and rags out of scraps of cloth found amidst the dumpsite in order to earn some extra money. It was discovered, however, that these women were being manipulated by middlemen who took advantage of the situation by stepping in and taking the bulk of the profits, leaving these women earning a mere US$0.02 per rug.

With the support from investors, Fernandez and company created a business framework that enabled these women to sell their goods directly to the retailers. Leading designers from the Philippines such as Rajo Laurel, who designs for celebrities and the Philippines' most influential personalities and prominent bag designer Amina Aranaz-Alunan (pictured above with some of the female workers at Rags2Riches) were invited to support the cause by providing design prototypes for the handbags, transforming the end products into stylish, fashionable pieces (examples of Laurel's and Aranaz-Alunan's works can be seen on www.rags2riches.ph).

Educating these women is another important priority for Rags2Riches. Trainings in personal finance, health insurance and nutrition are thus provided by the company. Today, more than 300 women from work for Rags2Riches, each pocketing 40 per cent of retail profits.

Promoting the production of environmentally friendly products is highly important for Rags2Riches, and Fernandez says, "My vision is not just to create livelihoods and income, but also to create sustainable, eco-ethical products."

And in April 2010, Fernandez was awarded into the very first Rolex Awards for Enterprise: Young Laureates Programme, which seeks to foster innovation in the upcoming generation. Launched in 2009, the Young Laureates Programme is a branch under the prestigious Rolex Award for Enterprise, which overall recognise pioneers whose work contributes to the betterment of mankind. The Young Laureates are visionary young men and women between the ages of 18-30 who have pioneered groundbreaking projects in such fields. Recipients of this award will receive US$50,000 over the span of two years in order to expand and further develop their projects.

Amongst the first Young Laureates are Jacob Colker from the US who developed an internet based program that allows volunteers to donate small amounts of time to help non-profit organisations, and Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu from Nigeria, who developed an interactive, rural radio service to improve the lives of farmers.

The Young Laureates Program and the Rolex Awards for Enterprise will alternate every two years. In 2012, five Laureates and five Associate Laureates of the Rolex Awards will be selected. Applications for the Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2012 have been ongoing since June. For details, visit http://rolexawards.com