Bloomington’s annual Trashion Refashion Runway Show features a series of fashion pieces made out of materials destined for the landfill. The 2023 show will take place on April 16 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.
The event functions as an annual fundraiser for The Center for Sustainable Living and its various partnerships with organizations across the Bloomington community. Tickets for the show range from $10-20, while infants and small children are allowed free admittance.
Started in 2010, The Trashion Refashion Show is a product of Discardia. As a project of The Center for Sustainable Living, Discardia is a hub for artisans who produce items from used materials. According to Discardia’s website, the project aims to establish a local identity of collective creation for everyone involved.
Led by Trashion Refashion directors Stephen Hale and Nicki Stewart Ingersoll, the event is organized and produced entirely by volunteer efforts. Yael Ksander, a Trashion Refashion MC and organizing committee member, said the event has several volunteers who have helped put the show together since it first started.
Although the annual event is not themed, Ksander said recycling is the main concept each year.
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“It’s an art show,” she said. “These are exquisitely made creations that are an artistic response to the climate crisis. It’s really a celebration and joyful response to the urgency of climate change. People leave the theater thinking about ways they can live more in tandem with the work.”
With this overarching concept in mind, Ksander said different design trends do tend to emerge each year at the fashion show.
“Last year, we got a lot of outfits that were called climate warriors,” she said. “We had people coming to the event with battle gear. We also had just as many [designs] with dystopian themes and also beautiful gowns made out of things like recycled video tape.”
In an effort to achieve a sense of collectivism, Trashion Refashion welcomes designers of any and all skill sets to submit their designs for the runway show. Design submissions for this year’s show are due Feb. 19.
Ksander said designs do not need to be finished by the time ideas are submitted. Trashion Refashion asks that designers submit their concept idea, a few drawings, an outline of materials that will be used to create the design and a title for the piece.
Although anyone is welcome to submit a design idea, Ksander said the show receives a lot of its submissions from students and faculty members at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design.
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“They are trained students who will be making fashion their profession,” she said. “We are really interested in cultivating that creativity for people who are thinking about it.”
The runway show also welcomes models of all ages, shapes and sizes, regardless of modeling experience.
“We are very into the idea of breaking down the beauty industry,” Ksander said. “It can be such an inclusionary space — taking people of all ages, sizes, degrees of mobility and gender.”
Interested models and volunteers can get involved in this year’s runway show by filling out the Trashion Refashion interest form online.
As the show evolves each year, Trashion Refashion’s cultural values are why Ksander said she keeps coming back to help organize the show.
“There is no other event that encapsulates Bloomington’s true spirit like the Trashion Refashion show does,” she said. “The way that it incorporates sustainability, progressive social values and art really speaks to our values.”
More information about the show can be found on Trashion Refashion’s website.
