Last minute adjustments, makeup touch ups, models waiting in anticipation, the glow of a gladiator, a sense of movement, garments framed between audience members, these magical moments tell the story of the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. For a feel of the event, peruse last year’s photos through the point-of-view of Joe Kline, one of the talented photographers who captured Rubbish Renewed. Joe shares the atmosphere from behind the scenes, from a bird’s eye view, and on the ground. Link to the 2016 Joe Kline’s Magical Images gallery and get excited for the January 12th event!
Author Archives: Rubbish Renewed
Peek into the Green Room 2016
For our 2016 show we tried something new, a group of inspired photographers capturing their individual views of the event. What came out of this was a distinctive montage of stories. Link to the gallery, In the Green Room 2016 – with photographer Paula Bullwinkel, for a unique peek behind the scenes of the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show.
Buy your tickets today for the 2017 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show! Thursday, January 12th at the Midtown Ballroom. Link to tickets:
All ages show – doors at 5pm, 21 & over show – doors at 7:30
Finally: 2016 Adult Runway Gallery Posted!
I’m so excited to finally post another gallery from the 2016 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. The 2016 Adult Runway gallery has a slightly different look. Each designer’s garment features 3 photos from Heaven McCarthur’s story telling style. Many of the mosaics include a close-up of the materials and fabrication methods, something that usually only those in the green room get to see. Look for the 2016 Business Challenge Gallery in the next few days!
Remember the submission deadline is Friday, December 2nd, for the 2017 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. Submissions are coming in, and we can’t wait to see yours!
2016 Student Runway Gallery Posted!
The deadline for designer applications is just 4 weeks away! Get inspired by perusing the 2016 student runway gallery with photos by Heaven McArthur. Many of these students are first time designers, while others are seasoned veterans with multiple entrees over our Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show history.
Designs by students are often the most fresh and innovative as they see the world differently than their older counterparts. For more student inspiration, link to the blog posts and galleries below from previous years. Then, let the creativity soak in and get started designing!
Student Focused Posts from past years with links to Galleries
Behind the Scenes Designer Series: Artist 5 Olivia Barnes
2016 Student Garment Sneak Peak: Gallery
2015 Student Runway Gallery Posted!
RR Student Designers in Action
Student Designers at the Heart of Rubbish Renewed – 2014 Student Gallery Posted!
Business Challenge Application is UP!

Our mission of transforming trash and inspiring community for a sustainable earth is seen in all aspects of Rubbish Renewed!
Rubbish Renewed invites individual community members and BUSINESSES to design pieces for the runway show.
As a business employee, group of employees, owner, or fan, you can get on the runway by designing a garment with quintessential waste from your business or business affiliate and joining 9 other local businesses for our 2017 Business Challenge.
The Business Challenge aspect of our show is comprised of a group of 10 businesses who create runway-worthy garments from their unique trash. Business Challenge participants are accepted on a “first come, first serve basis” after completing the application process and compete in a friendly competition for the coveted Trash Trophy on Thursday, January 12th, 2017.
More information can be found in the Business Challenge Application.
PHOTOS: Heaven McAruthur (www.heavenmcarthur.com)
Marketplace Application is UP!


The Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show Fundraiser is more than a fashion show! It is a fun, fundraising night out, where every aspect of the evening is focused on sustainability, innovation, and design.
One unique aspect, the Rubbish Renewed Marketplace, is currently accepting Marketplace Applications for the 2017 event.
The Marketplace features 10 local artists selling re-fashioned, trash-fashioned or sustainability-focused products. The Marketplace is an opportunity for local artists to sell and “market” their work to a large audience (1,000+) who recognize the value of sustainable fashion, art, and design. The Marketplace will be open during both shows from 5:00-10:00pm.
Spend your night with other creative, conscious individuals celebrating art, fashion, and design, while raising money for an innovative public school, REALMS Magnet School. Get here when the doors open, so you have time to shop at our local Marketplace and silent auction.
On Thursday, January 12th, the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show Fundraiser returns for the 7th annual at the Midtown Ballroom in Bend, Oregon.
PHOTOS: Heaven McArthur (www.heavenmcarthur.com)
Rubbish Renewed Runway Application is UP!
The Rubbish Renewed runway application is here for the most innovative fundraising event in Bend, the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show! Aspiring designers have until Friday, December 2nd to get their submissions in for a possible spot on this year’s runway. This is a juried show. Please make sure to read and follow the rules and guidelines on this website. Space on the runway is limited. Each year, we receive more applications than spaces available on the runway.
Inspired by Kids!
Kids inspire me. With Trash Fashion on my back burner for months, it took the beginning of the school year with a slew of excited middle school students to get my mind spinning with ideas. For the first post of the Rubbish Renewed season, here is an encouraging account written by several of last fall’s REALMS Rubbish Renewed Elective students. Several fantastic photos, by Heaven McArthur, highlight garments made by students quoted below, and Joe Kline’s ghostly image of the community garment.
This year the Rubbish Renewed Elective at REALMS was a hectic blur of measurements, cutting, restarting, redoing, sketching, and stitching. All of us, in the elective, had the goal of making it to the runway. Finally, after hours of work and thought poured into every garment, the deadline for submissions had arrived. That day, everyone was fussing over this or that trying to find the perfect name and description for their garment. Even now that everyone’s submissions were in, the suspense wasn’t over. We waited and waited for the results to come by email on the 12th of December. After days of anticipation the wait was over, whether your submission made it or not we still had work to do. The community garment had yet to be started. Those whose submissions had made it in continued to mess with their designs until it was just right. Others worked and worked on the community garment featuring old calculators from the 6th grade math room. All of the students in Rubbish Renewed had a delightful experience and are planning on making more trash fashion next year. Here are some comments that our students had:
“Waiting backstage was delightfully nerve wracking,” said student model and designer Becky Knight.- Ella Cook realized that anything can be reused to make something new. “I learned that almost everything that someone throws away can be used for something else.”
- This year a group of REALMS students had the idea of creating outfits with a theme of the 4 seasons. They worked together to create some fabulous outfits. Lilah Beck,student designer and model of spring said, “I am most proud of the bond that I formed with my team. We helped each other make the garments come together to be the best they can be.” Another student designer and model, Violet Loftus of summer stated, “I used to think that trash was gross and that it should be thrown right into the trash but then I went to the show!”
- Jaide Summers noticed that “It makes you aware of what to throw away and what to repurpose.”
Look for Galleries from last year’s show coming soon!
2016 Rubbish Renewed Photos
We tried something new this year! We invited a team of photographers to help us capture the whole Rubbish Renewed story. Thank you to Heaven McArthur, Joe Kline, Paula Bullwinkle, and Krystal Collins for being our inaugural Rubbish Renewed Photography Team.
Joe Kline Photos HERE / to purchase Joe’s photos, go to the gallery HERE and use the password, “rubbish”.
Heaven McArthur Photos HERE / FLASH SALE TIL MONDAY at Midnight.
A message from Heaven McArthur: Did you go to the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show this year? it was my first year and i was totally and absolutely blown away. the show is a fundraiser for the REALMS school (http://www.friendsofrealms.org/) and to keep the money coming, I am offering prints for sale with 50% of the proceeds to go to REALMS, if you were there or know someone who was and care to share, please do! as a bonus if you purchase a full digital set of images, you’ll receive a copy of the slideshow, which, after april 1st will be the only way to see it. \\\\\ link to the images: http://heavenmcarthur.pixieset.com/rubbishrenewedecofashion… (backstage, 1st and 2nd show categories are listed along the top row) they are only on sale till MONDAY at midnight, so hurry flurry!! if you have any questions, give me a ring, a ping, a shout!! (video coming next! )
Paula Bullwinkle & Krystal Collins- check back for gallery coming soon.
We did it…with YOU! – just under $22,000 for REALMS Magnet School.
Are you still buzzing from our show last week? We are too! We did it…with YOU!
We had another successful fundraising event. The Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show was back for the 6th year and we saw bigger than ever numbers, making this one of Bend’s greatest loved events. We saw greater than 500 people through our doors for each of our two shows, we found the generous support from 25 Bend business sponsors, we enlisted the creativity of 60+ models and designers, and employed more than 30 dedicated volunteers to raise just under $22,000 for REALMS Magnet School.
We would like to thank everyone who came to support Rubbish Renewed and REALMS Magnet School. The entire evening was a true success and absolutely showcased how we can transform trash and inspire community for a sustainable earth. We appreciate the time, effort and innovation of this year’s designers and could absolutely not do this event without YOU. Your one of a kind garments were impressive and helped create another unique show. The student designers continue to “wow” the audience with their creativity and collaboration, and after all these years we continue to see new materials on the runway. A testament to your designing spirit and environmental consciousness.
A SPECIAL THANKS GOES OUT TO…
Our Headline Sponsors: Habitat for Humanity ReStore for continuing to be an integral part of our event for the 6th year; through your sponsorship, we are able to provide the infrastructure and materials to put on Rubbish Renewed, Sonic Solutions for providing the professional runway stage and lights, Flip Flop Sounds for the stellar music and DJ, and Tambi Lane Photography for your pre-event promotional photos. We truly could not do this without YOU!
Our Additional Event Sponsors: Bend Electric Bikes, Camp Nor’wester, PlantLife Clothing, Rescue Collective, The Environmental Center/ReThink Waste, and Wabi Sabi.
ReThink Waste for helping our audience sort their waste from the show, ultimately contributing only one 1/4 can to the landfill.
Our Runway Hair Crew from Bishops Barbershop who set the style for the night! Than you to Sam and Crew: Jennifer, Jyl, Shannon, Mizmi, Jessie, and Heather for creating the perfect look to compliment each unique garment, while creating a subtle theme, tying all the looks together!
Our Photography Crew: Joe Kline, Paula Bullwinkle, Heaven McArthur, Krystal Collins for helping us tell the whole Rubbish Renewed story through the moments captured by YOU. Like our Rubbish Renewed Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram (#rubbishrenewed) for the 2016 photos! Coming Soon!!!
Our Media Support: The Source, Cascade A & E, 1017fm for helping us get the word out!
Our esteemed Emcee, Jessie Russell, for your timing and wit.
Our Auctioneer, Zach Richards, for your steadfastness and easy-going spirit.
Our Runway Make-Up Crew created by this talented team: Misa, Kimberly, Moon, Hayer, Kate, Sheena, Mayra, and Rocio
Our VIP Table Sponsor; Broken Top Bottle Shop for the delicious appetizers.
Our Food Cart, Barrio, for serving up the “yums”.
Our Green Room Sponsor, Jackson’s Corner, for keeping our models fed through copious amounts of homemade pizzas.
Our Midtown Hosts, Jim & Jennifer, for working with our multifaceted event. It wasn’t Mac Miller or Snoop Dogg;)
Our Beverage Sponsors, Boneyard Beer, Atlas Cider, and Crater Lakes Vodka for keeping us hydrated all night.
Our Marketplace Coordinators; Sandy Reed & Mare Schelz for organizing the vendors, creating the best lay out yet, and ensuring that all our artists had a great experience.
Our Silent Auction Coordinator; Anna Ruder for nearly doubling our net revenue and building a greater community through donation acquisition.
Our Front Door Hosts; Roger White, Jennifer Scalley, & Genna Dynice for welcoming and taming the crowd.
Our VIP Table Servers; Phoebe Schaab & Fiona Lintner for your ease, flexibility, and welcoming spirit.
Our VIP Host; Chelsea Callicott for always making people feel welcome and “seen.”
Our Live Auction Coordinator; Kellen Bateham for your confidence in organizing our garment watchers and ensuring they did their job.
Our Display Diva; Erin Diamond for your creative and eye-catching displays. Thank you for getting the word out to our audience!
…and of our course our fearless guides and cheerleaders; Amy Anderson, Karen Holm, & Allison Murphy for your beautiful collaboration and hundreds of hours that you pour into this event.



