About Rubbish Renewed

Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show fuses environmental responsibility, funky fashion and community. Join other socially conscious individuals for an evening of sustainable fashion, showcasing styles that the future demands. We invite you to reconsider the value of trash and celebrate the creative, sustainable spirit of Bend. Started by two educators and rooted in a love of fashion, an appreciation of art and a passion for the planet, Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show is a fundraising event for REALMS Charter School. An eclectic, wearable art runway show, a live and silent auction, and a gallery style marketplace (where contributing local artists sell and showcase their work), will showcase how we “fashion” our lives while lessoning waste.

Behind the Scene Designer Series: Artist 5 Olivia Barnes

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Rubbish Renewed

Today we bring back our Behind the Scene Designer Series we started last season, and this time it’s a talented 12 year old! I first met Olivia at the December photo shoot before our 2014 Show. Then a focused 5^th grader she came to us dialed as a designer and poised to show her talent on the runway. Last year I lamented that Olivia didn’t submit, until I found out she was already working on her piece for the following year! Talk about a role model for planning ahead!

The Behind the Scene Designer Series celebrates the trash fashion that IS the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. Without it, there would be no event. Each designer brings his or her unique passion, inspiration, and creativity, but no matter their differences, a common bond lingers: transforming trash, inspiring community for a sustainable earth.

Artist 5 – Olivia Barnes

Designer & Model: Olivia Barnes Photo: Tambi Lane Photography

Designer & Model: Olivia Barnes
Materials: Bicycle refuse
Photo: Tambi Lane Photography

RR: What do you do in real life when you’re not designing and creating trash fashion?

OB: Fencing, school (7^th grader), and cupcake baking

RR: How did you get started as a trash fashion designer?

OB: I studied all of the water around the world in elementary school and I got inspired to do something about it.

RR: What inspires your creations?

OB: I was inspired by my dads biking and I realized that there was a lot of things that were wasted. There were broken parts that just got thrown away. I decided to make something amazing out of that.

RR: What is your current goal as a Trash Fashion Designer?

OB: My next step is to enter the fashion show this year, and end goal is to inspire, and make known the problems about trash.

RR: What is else should we know about you?

OB: I love to design, model and help the environment. I love the feeling of showing people what I have made that I spent time on, and it definitely pays off. I also love to get creative with trash and help put better use to the garbage around the world!

Photo: Joe Kline

The submission deadline for garments is just over 2 weeks away on December 4th. Go to the link to remind yourself the criteria for submission information and fill out the online runway submission form.

2015 Student Runway Gallery Posted

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Rubbish Renewed

T-Time
Designer & Model: Lily McNabb
Materials: Tea bag wrappers

Inspiring students rewards all of us. As a teacher, seeing students create a goal, persevere through challenges and meet that goal, is the best. And when that goal includes taking care of the planet, it’s even better. I’ve had a chance to teach, mentor, assist, problem solve, and push students each year to enter in the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. Many life skills come out of this experience and the 2015 Gallery shares the fruits of this labor. Thanks for all the determination, resilience, and follow-through shown by these student designers. We can’t wait to see what they bring this year.

Only 3 1/2 weeks to the submission deadline!

Check out the new 2015 Student Runway gallery posted today! Photos by Tambi Lane Photography.

2015 Adult Runway Gallery Posted!

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Rubbish Renewed

True Contours
Designer: Karen Holm
Materials: slide sleeves & topo maps

As luck would have it, I get to peruse Tambi Lane Photography runway photos from last year’s Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. Thumbing through the images immediately brought me back to the green room on the evening of January 15^th. . . Examining the garments up close illuminates the quality of construction and the intricacy of work (manifested in many hours) that goes into manipulating rubbish into fashion. Textures and tricky techniques abound. Our goal is to continue to push designers in material choices (see post Organic Matter isn’t Rubbish), uniqueness of design and quality construction.

Check out the new Runway 2015 Adult Designer Runway gallery, posted today! Runway photos by Tambi Lane Photography.

2015 Business Challenge Runway Gallery Posted!

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Rubbish Renewed

RESTORE Business Challenge

What an amazing Business Challenge it was! Just over 9 months ago, on January 15th the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show highlighted 10 sustainably minded businesses. Talented designers creatively crafted couture from the businesses own refuse. Check out the newly posted 2015 Business Challenge Runway gallery with photos by Tambi Lane Photography.

Our Business Challenge closes when we reach 10 completed applications. Learn more about supporting Rubbish Renewed as a Business Challenge participant here. Submit your Business Challenge online application today to compete for the Coveted Trash Trophy!

PROJECT RUNWAY USES REAL REFUSE FOR ONCE

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Rubbish Renewed

The winning design. Kelly Dempsey creates this textured dress with small pieces of metal ducting.

Kelly Dempsey creates this textured dress with cut pieces of metal ducting.

Ashley Tipton plays with Polaroids.

Project Runway is known for it’s unconventional challenge. Each season, on at least one episode, show designers run to retrieve something unfabric-like, sponsored by some corporation or another. Although unconventional, the objects are new material that is re-envisioned into fashion. Designers use base fabric and hot glue to construct something unique. However amazing, this is not Trash Fashion. (Read our last post “Organic Matter isn’t Rubbish”).

This season, episode 7, used real refuse for once! “The designers go dumpster diving for recycled electronics in order to merge the worlds of fashion and technology.” Although they still use muslin (new material – not allowed in Rubbish Renewed) for base fabric and many use hot glue to assemble the garment, the concept hits the mark. See how these designers manipulate materials, using the innate qualities to push the fashion forward!

How will you stretch your use of materials this season?

Edmond Newton & Candice Cuoco use keyboard keys, wire, and mouse pads.

Organic Matter isn’t Rubbish

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Rubbish Renewed

Despite the fact that as a society we deal with trash daily and throughout each day, we don’t always stop to think about what we’re tossing and why we’re tossing it; we just know that it needs to leave permanently because there are other things for us to think about, and well, the end destination of an onion peel, potato chip bag or aluminum can isn’t one of them. But, as designers of Rubbish Renewed and citizens of this planet, the ignorance is waning and the questions are forming into, “Well, what CAN I do with this onion peel, potato chip bag or aluminum can?”

I’m know you’re familiar with the trash can and the recycling bin, but are you familiar with composting? The concept of composting is quite simple: take a variety of organic matter (kitchen scraps, yard clippings, leaves, etc.), pile it in a bin (outdoor or indoor worm bin) and let it decompose into a nutrient dense soil additive to help plants grow healthier. Not only does composting create a great plant food, it diverts a large amount of garbage from the landfills – win/win!

We are currently meeting and planning the 2016 fashion show, and with that we are making revisions of our guidelines to reflect our mission. We realize that we haven’t yet laid down any guidelines regarding entries made of organic matter. Our 2015 Business Challenge winner was actually a dress made of organic matter – leaves that had fallen off of plants were carefully sculpted into a beautiful silhouette. It was a gorgeous creation! However, what was our first entry made of organic matter will also be our last. The organizers of Rubbish Renewed feel that organic matter isn’t rubbish – organic matter that is compostable should be treated as such. If you’d like to get composting, Deschutes County’s very own RETHINK WASTE has some great ideas and resources to help you compost successfully!

One of the neatest aspects of Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show is the education aspect. It’s so cool that a passion for fashion can open up a conversation that is so much more than a dress and a runway. We hope that you will use Rubbish Renewed as an opportunity to think about your personal trash stream and all the creative ways you can reduce and divert garbage from filling up our landfills.

What aspect of the trash stream has you fired up to learn more about and share with your community?

Warmly, Allison Murphy (RREFS Runway Coordinator & Graphic Designer)

Save the Date

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Rubbish Renewed

6th Annual

Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Submission Deadline: Friday, December 4

Submission Paperwork posted soon! Check out last year’s to get an idea what to expect.

Get Inspired!

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Rubbish Renewed

Summer is not my time for designing. I want to be outside, playing in our magical home. Fall, however, shifts my brain to creativity. And with that, trash fashion. Prepping my work-space is the first step. Then I play with materials.

My middle nephew came from Belgium this spring for a visit, and with a Bend local he’d met when visiting as a teenager, he enjoyed some Central Oregon fun: a little boating on local rivers, and exploring the areas that surround Bend. East of town they found their way to a spot where locals target shoot. The remnants of shotgun shells covered the dry dusty, midden-like site, an archaeological find uncovering some history of the region. They gathered up a bag full of refuse, bringing me a new material to explore.

What trash will you find? What will inspire you this year?

Transforming trash and inspiring community for a more sustainable earth

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Rubbish Renewed

More than 6 years ago, when we first envisioned the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show, we hoped to create a fun, fashionable event that inspired our Bend community to raise the bar in environmental responsibility. Our mission declares we are rooted in a love of fashion, an appreciation of art and a passion for the planet. Trash fashion created the visible inspiration; it just wasn’t enough. We wanted people to not only believe that being sustainable was a good idea, but in-fact act. It meant we, as an event, needed to walk our talk. We had to hold the bar high for ourselves, designers, sponsoring businesses, food carts and audience members to keep sustainability at the forefront for the event.

In 2015 we saw just under 1000 people in our 2 January 15^th shows. This photo celebrates ALL the trash from the night! Everything else was reused, recycled, or composted.

Thank you Bend for rising to the challenge, keeping a passion for the planet front and center!

Rubbish Renewed is a community event. It is powerful for students, embraced by the community, and is rooted in a belief that each person can make a difference in our environment by just making one small shift at a time.

We raised close to $22,000!

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Rubbish Renewed

We are thrilled to report that this year’s Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show was the most successful one yet! We packed the house with more than 400 people at each of our two shows and raised close to $22,000 for REALMS (Rimrock Expeditionary Alternative Learning Middle School).

And if you haven’t viewed the fantastic photos taken by Tambi Lane Photography, Click HERE for images from this year’s show. Choose “first show” or “second show” to view the images in the gallery of your choice. This option is located near the bottom of the screen. Click to enlarge the image and use the cart icon and pull down menu for ordering. Please contact Tambi Lane directly for any questions. tambilane@msn.com | www.tambilane.com

*Please do not copy or download images without purchase. We ask that you do not edit or alter the images in anyway.