By Kellen Quigley
Staff Writer
For the third straight year, students at Bona’s will take the stage of the Rigas Family Theater in The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts and show off their fashion creations as the big finish for Recyclemania.
“We were looking for ideas to recycle in new and different ways,” Sr. Suzanne Kush, a coordinator of the show, said. “Creating fashion out of recycled items was a good idea to show how recycling can be fun.”
The third annual Trashion Fashion Show will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21. Eight students confirmed their participation in this year’s show earlier in the month, some of whom have participated all three years, according to Sean Conklin, assistant curator of The Quick Center and a coordinator of the show.
“It takes the spirit of Recyclemania and turns over the idea of how people think about recycling,” Conklin said. “You never realize how people can take something like a trash bag and make it look really nice.”
The first Trashion Fashion Show took place in April 2013 in The Loft on the third floor of The Quick Center. Because the participants and attendees filled the room, Conklin said they needed a bigger venue and moved the show to the Rigas Family Theater on the first floor.
“The real stage made it feel like a ‘Project Runway’ show,” Conklin said. “The curtains, lights and music help.” The models will have the opportunity to pose backlit behind a silk screen so the silhouette of their outfits show before they walk out.
“We want the audience to feel immersed in the experience,” Conklin said. “It won’t feel like people are wearing materials you would normally throw away.”
Although creativity drives the show, Trashion Fashion has several rules and regulations, primarily that the designs must be composed of 90 percent post-consumer materials. But according to Kush, it gets across the point of recycling.
“It’s exciting to see the individuals get so creative with their materials,” Kush said. “When we recycle, a lot of it is reprocessed and becomes other stuff like carpets and furniture. These shows put a big emphasis on reusing those same materials for fun, creative ideas.”
Last year, the hosts invited a group from a local high school to attend. This year, at least three different local high school groups plan to attend, according to Kush.
“The students we’ve invited show a big interest in art,” Conklin said. “A lot of the art teachers from the schools have told me they’re excited to see the show.” The students will have the opportunity to make their own designs to feature on the runway.
“A school in Amherst contacted me to say they will hold their own Trashion Fashion show later this year,” Conklin said. “But I’d like to see more colleges doing it, too.”
Conklin and Kush said audience participation is important this year because of the People’s Choice Award where audience members vote on their favorite outfit. Other awards, judged by Josh Maxey, Lauren Zazzara and Anne Mormile, include Top Trashionista, Trashionista Runner-Up, Top Model and Top Model Runner-Up.
“Everyone is invited,” Kush said. “Faculty, staff, students and community members… The more people who attend, the more votes are cast and the more fun it is. It’s the highlight of Recyclemania in the community.”
Recyclemania is a competition with other universities across the nation to promote recycling while encouraging members of each campus to make recycling a habit.
Besides the fun and community experience, Recyclemania has a close connection with Bonaventure and the Franciscan Tradition.
“St. Francis is the patron saint of ecology,” Conklin said. “The more we realized recycling and caring for the environment is a big part of the tradition, the easier it was to expand Recyclemania to teach how to reuse and show how to rethink recycling.”
The runway show is free and open to the public. A reception is planned for afterwards.
For more information about the event, contact Sean Conklin at sconklin@sbu.edu or Sr. Suzanne Kush at skush@sbu.edu.
quiglekm11@bonaventure.edu
