Mount Baker students will show off their flashiest and most inventive outfits at the Trash Fashion Show on April 26.
They’ll walk the catwalk in handmade outfits at Key City Theatre, to music from a team of DJs. Every outfit is made by a student out of recycled and repurposed material.
The young designers were tasked with making outfits based on something that inspires them — a song, a colour, a movie character, or even a scenic landscape. They’ve used a variety of materials to make them— playing cards, bottle caps, beer cans, film paper, books, fabric, buttons, newspaper and hot glue.
“The excitement that they had, and the enthusiasm, really played in to make the most amazing collection of such different and unique things. They worked so hard, and the passion is still there,” said art teacher and event organizer Cheryl Wilkinson.
There will be 58 designs that cross the runway, made by students from grades 10 to 12.
Photography teacher Bonnie Hayes will be sending a group to take pictures at the event, and music teacher Evan Bueckert, known by his stage name DJ Hangnail, will work with a few students to spin the runway tunes. On the playlist is Dua Lipa and Lizzo, and songs from last year’s hit Hollywood film Barbie. They’ll also play some student-made electric house and trap music.
Bueckert runs a DJing and music mixing program at the high school, the only course of its kind in B.C. He brings professionals in from Vancouver to instruct his students and teach them how to hold a crowd and build excitement at the DJ booth.
Bueckert said the event provides a wonderful opportunity for students to explore their passions.
“It all started because Cheryl wanted to make recycled clothing and everyone came out because they were curious. It has exploded,” he said.
Wilkinson said that when the event first started more than a decade ago, outfits were made exclusively out of recycled material, but the younger generation has taken the event in a new direction and added upcycled and thrifted materials, as well as crocheting and knitting.
“We ended up getting a donation of rolls from an old printing machine and a student has used the rolls to crochet an entire outfit,” she said.
Tickets to the show will be $5 this year and can be purchased at www.keycitytheatre.com. There will be three fashion shows at 5:30, 7:00 and 8:30 p.m.