Yakima, WA—Purple felt crown royal sacks and plastic kitty litter bags: they’re on the cutting edge of fashion now. Well, it’s “garbage”.
Julian Yusko says several Washington State University students who used consumer waste to design and manufacture clothing and apparel that will be on display at the Washington State Recycling Association’s (WSRA) annual conference in Yakima next week. I’m one of them.
Yusko, an apparel design major, made a dress out of discarded Crown Royal bags as part of a self-study course. The dress was featured at his annual WSU AMDT fashion show earlier this spring. She also made a dress out of a kitten litter bag during a free study for the Trashion Show at the WSRA conference.
“I had the idea for a litter dress for several years,” said Yusko, a fourth-year student who will graduate in December. “I always try to reuse bags as much as possible, and now I am launching a project of preserved bags.”
The WSRA contacted WSU’s Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles (AMDT) after deciding to resume the Trashion Show after a hiatus of several years. WSRA has never worked with WSU before. They had previously recruited volunteers to help run the show. A quick internet search this year revealed WSU’s interest in sustainable apparel, so the organizers reached out to his AMDT faculty.
“We are so excited to see our students working on these designs,” said Jenna Burchell, community relations manager for DTG Recycling in Bothell, Washington and a member of the WSRA Conference Planning Committee. I was. “Combining fashion with upcycled items is a fun way to repurpose items from landfills and provide students with creative projects that they can hopefully use in their classrooms and portfolios,” she says.
Fashion falls into two general categories. One previously designed and created for this show and other projects, such as Yusko’s contribution, and his AMDT 212: Apparel Product Development (AMDT Assistant Professor Armingarachan last semester This is a work by a student from a course I taught in
“We made this the final project of the course. It was something to consider,” Galachian said. “They then worked in small groups or individually to design and create a variety of apparel.”
Galachian said the students collected and used a variety of products, including old electronics cables and wires, aluminum tabs from soda cans, plastic bags and cardboard.
“Some students contacted WSU Waste Management and were granted access to the trash can,” she said. “Students who went there were amazed at the amount of waste that was thrown away. I would like to have it, because everything is interconnected.”
Three WSU students, two of whom live in Yakima and Yusco, will be attending the Tracyon show on May 23rd in person. WSRA provides students and Galatians with tickets to the conference dinner gala after the show.
Conference attendees will become runway models for the show, and three students and Galacians will get fitted, dressed, and ready to go on the runway. Some students themselves act as fashion models.
“It’s a great way to show how much waste society creates,” said Yusko, who hopes to make a career in costume design. “I really appreciate the invitation to participate in the conference. It is great to bring together different groups with different interests. By looking to traditional materials, you can think differently and creatively.”
Yusko brings two dresses to the show, not all of them in full outfits. For example, some groups in the class made bags and other accessories. Overall, WSU students created about 15 complete looks for the show.
“Most of the students in this class are not design students,” says Galachian. “Fun and creativity are more important than function in this project. But it can open their minds and make them think about what they can do with all this waste.”