Scraplanta's 1st Trashion Show turns discarded materials into runway-ready designs

Cardboard, fabric scraps and other discarded materials will take center stage on the runway this weekend as Atlanta nonprofit Scraplanta hosts its inaugural Trashion Show, an event combining fashion, creativity and environmental awareness.

The event showcases wearable art created from reclaimed and recycled materials, encouraging designers to rethink what many people consider waste. Organizers say the show is designed to raise awareness about the environmental impact of fast fashion while proving sustainability can be stylish.

"It's the same as a fashion show, but we're using recycled materials and sustainable goods to make different fashion pieces," said Symone Gaskin, Scraplanta's director of programming.

The Trashion Show is the culmination of Scraplanta's Green Creatives Academy, a summer workshop series that teaches participants how to design and construct garments using secondhand fabrics and recycled materials.

"We had our Green Creatives Academy this summer. It was a series of workshops to teach people not only the skills that they need to make a garment, a finished piece, but also using secondhand fabrics, recycled materials to do so," Gaskin said. "Again, to raise awareness about waste and fast fashion."

Gaskin said textile waste continues to be a growing environmental concern.

"It's a huge problem," she said. "Landfills are piled with goods that are no longer used. We don't need to cycle through new fabric every time we need to make a piece. You can upcycle."

Among the featured designers is Wesley Hall of Quilts by Big Wes, whose runway look transforms leftover quilting materials into wearable fashion.

"This dress is an upcycled piece made by some of the leftover materials we have from some of the quilt jobs that we did and some scraps that we also got from Scraplanta," Hall said. "It's a scrappy caftan ... and it is totally made of reused materials."

Also featured is designer StarFlower, founder of Starrland, whose whimsical designs are created almost entirely from secondhand materials.

"My personal style really shows in my brand with flowy silhouettes, mixed patterns — just anything but ordinary," StarFlower said. "Everything made on this rack is made from secondhand materials as well as fabric from Scraplanta."

She describes Starrland as "an imaginative oasis where one can be themselves and look just like the star they are."

"We're unique, and we should shine like it," she said.

The inaugural Trashion Show will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Lifecycle Building Center, 1116 Murphy Ave. SW, Atlanta.

Tickets are still available but are selling quickly. They can be purchased through Scraplanta's Ticket Tailor event page.