Photos from Texas Campaign for the Environment's Annual Fashion Show
“This event really feels like Austin” one of the announcers at Texas Campaign for the Environment‘s annual fashion show started the night off with a claim that I couldn’t disagree with. Last night’s “Trash Makeover Challenge” was an event that did have an old-school Austin vibe to me (one of my favorite moments was when I asked several people in charge where the media pit was and everyone looked at me completely dumbfounded. “Media pit?” one guy repeated back to me like he didn’t know what that was.) I won’t lie, I used to attend every single local fashion show or event when I first started this blog, and over the years I honestly got a little burnt out on attending certain events, sometimes due to their lack of production quality. It wouldn’t be an Austin fashion event if there wasn’t some sort of production issue whether it be poor lighting, amateur models, or nowhere for photographers to stand.
But snark aside, the thing that truly makes a fashion event feel authentically “Austin” is if it showcases local talent in a creative and fun way, and promotes community involvement. The Trash Makeover Challenge is an event that has consistently managed to do both of these things since its inception 4 years ago.
The concept of this event is one that makes it pretty special. Local designers, both professionals and amateurs, are given the task to create a stylish look that is made up of at least 90% recyclable materials i.e. “trash.” Besides showing off local talent, the goal for this show in particular is to bring money and support to the goal of Texas Campaign for the Environment, which is to fight pollution and shift corporate and governmental policy via grassroots efforts.
The theme of this year’s show was “Steampunk Meets Nature,” and the designers managed to create some really amazing, sometimes even Tim Burtonesque, looks out of materials such as Doritos bags, saran wrap, Monster energy drink cans, construction fencing, and tamale casings. Check out the photos below and let us know what your favorite look from the Trash Makeover Challenge was…
