Highlights from the 2021 ReFashion (Trashion) Show
Competition Categories and Winners: Upcycled Ready-to-wear Fashion – Paige St. Pierre Most Creative Use of Materials – Baeven Hoit and Sandy Hall Best Use of Materials – Lynn Christiansen Student (18 and under) – Mary Voltin Audience Award – Lynn Christiansen Peer Award – Lynn Christiansen
Judges: Gabriel Bell-Diaz and Claire Beaumont
Sponsors: Bainbridge Disposal, Heyday Farm, Green Mountain Technologies, Clark Construction, Firefly Salon, A Kitchen That Works, Plum In-kind Sponsors: Eleven Winery, F.R.O.G. Soap, Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreatino District, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bon Bon Confections, Island Cool, Jen Colburn Design
Mary Voltin, student artist Winner – Student award Model: Amanda Voltin Title: Brown Bag Glam
The accumulation of brown grocery bags during the pandemic was the inspiration for “Brown Bag Glam.” Mary wanted to create a simple woven sundress that would be perfect for summer. The bags were cut into strips then glued together to create large weaving pieces. Mary was able to achieve the woven look on the bodice and skirt. Accompanying the dress is a matching woven hat repurposed from the bag handles. The perfect way to say goodbye to the pandemic and hello to a new dress.
Madeline Huck, student artist Model: Lilah Wakefield Title: Beach Picnic I used old towels and paper plates that I painted to represent beach balls. I made the style a sundress because it is meant to be worn in warm weather to the beach! This piece is modeled by Lilah Wakefield.
Artist: Lynn Christiansen Winner: Best Use of Materials, Audience Award, and Peer Award Model: Emma Fabert Title: Stop and Smell the (Packing) Peanuts
Materials: Foam packing and packing peanuts I love packing. Wrapping items in foam and honing my Tetris skills in maximizing what can fit in a box is therapeutic. That love was put to the test when we packed up after 25 years and moved to Bainbridge Island. I hate unpacking. My husband loves packing peanuts. Unpacking peanuts can be a special kind of torture. They go everywhere! Packing, moving, shipping, unpacking … the process of moving is a journey in and of itself and I have discovered there is a certain beauty in the chaos of foam and packing peanuts strewn about … like a field of wildflowers.
Artist: Melissa Mello Model: Melissa Mello Title: Pencil Me In
Writing does not always come easy. Whether it’s coming up with an idea or learning to form the letters, pencils are still a staple in my classroom. I was inspired to create this piece from all of the well-used pencils I collect every year. Missing erasers, broken (sometimes out of frustration), chewed, worn down — I never want to throw them away, so I collected them and decided to make a pencil skirt out of pencils. These pencils represent hours of students writing their name, slowly forming the unusual marks we call letters, phonetically spelling words, combining into sentences, getting stuck, erasing, finalizing drafts and eventually, hopefully, feeling pride in their written work. The top of my piece is built from scraps of writing collected from my own children when they were little: family portraits, math problems, letter practice and the occasional word or two.
Artist: Paige St-Pierre Model: Zoe Kackman Winner: Upcycled Ready to Wear Title: Bird’s Eye View Inspiration/Concept: Inspired by M.C. Escher’s tessellations, French trompe l’oeil painting, positive and negative space created with black and white, iconic 1930s silhouettes, traditional hounds tooth motif. Garment Description: This dress design embodies the hope I hold for a more sustainable future post-Covid as we reassess the fashion industry’s current take/make/waste model of making and using textiles in our world. Using my own household’s textiles as my fabric store, I am embracing circularity and employing zero waste principles by extending the life of each piece of fabric beyond its originally conceived use. For this design, I have created my own fabric and used it to create my own print thereby creating a trompe l’oeil effect with the garment. The print effect is created via a mosaic of fabrics stitched together, cut into shapes and appliquéd onto the base layer of the dress thus creating the final cohesive print.
Artists: Baeven Hoit and Sandy Hall Model: Baeven Hoit Winner: Most Creative Use of Materials Title: Something about Fish I love Trashion. Creating art out of trash is a fun challenge. Trashion is an art project. The entries often aren’t meant to be durable. Many can’t be worn in the rain, unless… I set out to craft a piece that would be as water-resistant as possible—a swimsuit. I asked my amazing grandma (who taught me how to knit) for help with the logistics of knitting a bathing suit. With her expertise and my creative vision we make a great team. The look was influenced by the 1950s French Riviera style with high-waisted shorts, a large sun hat, and feminine bows. Paired with scale-like textures, scalloped hems, and fish motifs, this entry was inspired by my interest in marine biology. I’ve always loved the ocean and aquariums and beaches. As a pescatarian, most of my protein comes from seafood. But the ocean is in danger. 8.8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year. This plastic breaks down, becoming microplastics, which are eaten by sea life, including seafood staples. Humans are regularly ingesting plastics. Estimates suggest that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Most plastic is not recycled – this has little to do with the consumer and is mostly the fault of corporations. Plastic producers must be held responsible for the harm their products cause to the ocean and the people who love and rely on it. We need to do “Something About Fish”.
Artists: Isobel Crump and Champee Sall Model:Isobel Crump Title: Horsing Around Luncheon Outfit The horse industry generates a lot of waste. Blankets, saddle pads, feed bags, baling twine, and so on. I am modeling a dress and jacket made from an old ripped blanket that belonged to my horse, Lightning. The creator and seamstress of the dress and jacket, Champee Sall, used the inside and outside fabric from the blanket, old riding pants fabric, a feed bag, horse shoes and baling twine to create this ensemble. The hat was created using cardboard from a box, a die cup and baling twine. Hopefully people will realize that these sturdy and virtually indestructible blankets and other waste from the pleasure horse industry can be used in many ways rather than go to a landfill. Many times horse owners just want a different color or style of blanket or sheet and there is nothing wrong with the old one. There are endless possibilities to use these items.
Artists: Josephina Todd and Sophie Taylor Model: Montana Staub Title: Off Islander Before the world was struck with the Covid epidemic, we were a part of the 2020 Trashion Show mystery box category. The show and the category were postponed, and so was our look! Our original design included all the (over 200) items in the box. Even after the category was dissolved for this year, we were still extremely inspired by the items inside. So, we decided to use over 75% of the items along with a few additions. The super crop top’s shell is created out of an Ikea brand scrap of fabric from the mystery box. We naturally dyed the fabric in beet broth 5 times to get this shade of pink. The super crop top’s lining is made out a small, plaid, triangular-shaped piece of fabric and a red velvet shirt that was falling apart. The fringe on the inside of the sleeves is made from different colored fabric strings. From the velvet shirt, we attached a decorative red ruffle around the bottom of the sleeves and skirt. The shell of the skirt is also the same Ikea fabric. We added denim pockets, made from 2 pairs of cut up shorts. The lining of the skirt is made from a white eco-fleece crew neck and parts of the Ikea fabric. The denim bra was also made from the pockets and the waist belt of the denim shorts. For the accessories, we have paper clip earrings, a necklace (made from old sewing needles, wine corks, and a bike tire), a purse (made from CD’s, twist ties, and silver & yellow coffee bags), protective goggles (decorated with yogurt lids and tear-dropped shaped jewels from the red velvet shirt), and a denim face mask. The once shiny red boots were decaying, so we decided to uplift them by covering them in the matching Ikea fabric. The heel is covered by the bike tire and wine corks.
Holly Davies, artist Model: Meg Spidel Title: A Suit for Our Times A Chanel-inspired skirt suit knit from homemade plarn (plastic yarn). The suit is knit from Seattle Times newspaper bags, with the trim from NY Times newspaper bags.
Artist: Lily Lashmet Model: Emily Lashmet Title: City of Plants I was inspired by people’s relationship with nature, especially during the pandemic—really how our health is dependent on the health of the planet, like air pollution making people sick. With the pandemic, people were spending more time outside if possible, and I think that spread a better appreciation of it. My piece imagines a world where we have a positive and healthy relationship with plants and are actually a sustainable society—with a fashionable twist. I used garden gravel bags, plastic and paper grocery bags along with newspapers for the mask to create my piece.
Artist: Therese Kunzi-Clark Models: Nina Clark and Matt Butler Title: If the Rain Comes Inspired by a defective umbrella. Three years ago, I was told my defective umbrella could not be fixed, that I should throw it in the trash, and that I would be sent a replacement umbrella. I started to disassemble it with recycling in mind. There were 3 different materials:
The nylon umbrella cover and case
The metal umbrella frame
The plastic handle
Inspired by the beautifully designed cover of the umbrella, I decided to upcycle the material into “couture”. I have collected broken and discarded umbrellas for 3 years. My collection includes a Beatles umbrella sent to me from England. These clothing items combine my love of form and function with my interest in disassembling and creatively transforming things for further use.
Artist: Mckayla SewNsew Model: Sann Wilder Title: Intersection Drawn from the sheets we sleep upon to the jeans we wear as our armor and the tulle we watch upon a ballerina upon the stage. Intersection is an exploration of the transformations we are capable of. This piece seeks to examine the moments of strength that hold us together and the points at which we need space from each other. It seeks to remind us to practice our craft and play within the progress.
Artist: Susan Haines Model: Isabelle Haines Title: Flower Fun Plastic bottles: Ubiquitous, convenient, huge source of pollution. I chose to use plastic liter bottles to create an outfit that is fun to wear, strikingly unique and long lasting. My goal was to incorporate as many parts of the bottle as possible. To start, I cut 3 petal shapes from the length of the bottles, then the neck, saving the bottom and caps. I used old purple paint samples to add interest and color. Then I made a skirt using old curtains and sewed the petals in horizontal rows on the skirt. For the top and shawl I used a combination of old dress lining and matching skirt curtains. The hat is made from a painted bottle bottom. To decorate all 3 pieces of the outfit I used bottle necks and caps. Throwaway shoes were similarly painted. The beauty of this outfit is that it is so fun to wear and can be worn again and again.
