Category Archives: Design

Runway Submissions Due April 20th – What will you create?

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The Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show garment submission deadline is one month away! Designers, now is the time to start fabricating that unique creation you’ve been pondering. You may be still collecting trash, but get started!

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3 EASY STEPS to be considered for the 11th Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show on Saturday, May 20th…

Complete the submission process by the deadline << April 20th >>

  1. Complete the Runway Submission Form
  2. Pay Submission Fee
  3. Send 3 photos of your design

GARMENTS SHOULD LIFT UP THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:.

  • Mission – Is your garment furthering the Rubbish Renewed Mission?  Does the description of your garment and piece communicate:  Transforming trash, inspiring community for a sustainable earth
  • Materials – Does your garment fit the trash fashion and/or re-fashion definitions?  Does your garment transform trash into fashion? Priority given to garments that truly keep items out of the landfill.
  • Design – Does your garment communicate a coherence in design, an innovative technique, unique aesthetics, and creative expression?
  • Construction – Do you demonstrate quality in construction?  Does your construction quality inspire long-term use?

Your garment doesn’t have to be complete to submit, but the further along you are, the easier it is for the jury to recognize your vision in your photos and artist renderings.

Calling All Creatives – Discover the Essence of your Rubbish!

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It’s that time of year in the Rubbish Renewed calendar to get inspired to design and construct! Rubbish Renewed is calling all creatives to find the inherent beauty in the trash around you. Delve into its unique characteristics: Is it stiff? Does it flow? Does it create volume on its own? How can it be attached? Discover the essence of the material and see the form emerge.

Things that are stiff and can create and maintain shape:

Things that are soft and can be sewn or woven:

Things that are small and can be cut up and tied, tacked, or glued:

Things that are small that can be rolled into beads or used whole and tied together:

Material Manipulation from Waste to Wearability

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THE REINCARNATION OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY WOOL COATS

My great uncle made braided rugs during the Great Depression and World War 2. Living in Roundup Montana, the winters were long and cold. He gathered worn out woolen coats and scraps from family and neighbors, and spent hours deconstructing garments, stripping fabric, and manipulating the newly formed strips into braids. This rubbish renewed process was normal during those lean times, making use of material that was finished from its original purpose, into something new and enduring. I grew up with Uncle Albert’s brightly colored, patterned rugs. One he made in later years still covers the floor of my childhood home, strong and seemingly unworn.

The rug that was in my aunt’s basement apartment, for as long as I remember, was an early version. When Betty passed, we discarded and distributed dozens of items. A few we kept. The rug, riddled with holes, was something to save for a later date. That time has arrived.

I transported the giant rug, weighing somewhere around 70lbs, back to Bend. Dragging it into my living room, like a body bag (luckily my partner was out of town), it was too big to unfold in my tiny Old Bend home. I left it in quarters and unlaced the braids, years of embedded debris falling free into the air and carpet (I donned a mask). Then the real work began.

I think unbraiding takes as long as braiding. The strands tangle and it’s necessary to cut out overly worn parts before separating the kinky quadra-folded strands into colors. The fabric unfolds in the process of washing each color group on the hand wash cycle in my front loader.

Now a ball of snarled fabric I untangle again, iron the lengths, and hang them to dry. The outside of the fabric is exceedingly worn even in areas without holes every inch. For now, I’ve rolled them up into spools by color and weight.

My next process is to cut the strands apart at the seams and remove those areas too perforated with holes. I’ll resew the bias cuts together with the insides now the face. My goal is to create a new coat, some parts re-braided and others sewn. I’ll keep you posted as my process continues on the reincarnation of an early 20th century wool coat.

Get inspired by the waste around you, and send us your material manipulation inspiration! What will you create for the May 20th, 2023 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show!

Celebrate Sustainable Practices – 2020 Business Challenge Posted

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Click here to access the 2020 Business Challenge Runway Gallery

Photo: Jazmine Turner Photography

As individual community members we have a responsibility to think about our choices and take actions to minimize our impact on the earth, but it is exponentially important for businesses to do the same. Poor waste management contributes to climate change, air pollution, and directly affects ecosystems and species. Reducing the carbon footprint of their products, creating initiatives to help employees reduce their impact, producing a climate conscious workplace, are all ways that businesses can step up their sustainability.

That’s why we love the Rubbish Renewed Business Challenge! We get to highlight the sustainable work of local businesses who take their impact seriously.

Each year a group of businesses come together to celebrate sustainability, support Realms education, and compete for the Coveted Trash Trophy.

Celebrate the 2020 Business Challenge Runway participants through the captivating photos of Jazmine Turner Photography’s Mindy J. Turner and SHE Photography’s Suzette Hibble!

Photo: SHE Photography

We’re Back! Date Announced

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New Season . . . Spring . . . Saturday, May 20th 2023!

The revival of Rubbish Renewed creates opportunities. One of these inspired a new season, Spring. Spring offers fresh venue ideas, novel designs, and more time for motivated student and adult designers to conceptualize and construct.

The design, creation, and application are a months-long process for designers to engage in and learn about waste, personal actions, design, creation skills, and determination, culminating in the professional feel of the show!

Just 4 months away. What will you create?

Save the Date: Saturday, May 20th 2023! Submission deadline one month before

Electrifying Trash Fashion – 2020 Adult Gallery Posted

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Click here to access the 2020 Adult Runway Gallery

Photo: SHE Photography
Photo: Jazmine Turner Photography

Rubbish Renewed has developed into a showcase for talented community artists. Many designers submit year after year inspired to up their game in sustainability, material manipulation, and style each event. Pieces tell a variety of stories like the challenges of medical waste, excessive packaging from our mail order and coffee on-the-go obsessions, and how to transform discards into truly wearable art.

Check out these electrifying trash fashion pieces on the 2020 runway through Jazmine Turner Photography’s Mindy J. Turner and SHE Photography’s Suzette Hibble’s compelling photos!

Who’s your favorite Rubbish Renewed Designer? What will they create for the 2023 Spring Show?

Photo: SHE Phototgraphy

Years 4-5: The History of Rubbish Renewed

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In 2013, the Century Center broke up the space we had been using, and Rubbish Renewed set out to find another home. Bend is lacking in large open event venues, and after countless failures, finally we procured the Armory Gym down near the Old Mill. The location was ideal, close for walking, and dedicated parking. The Gym atmosphere, however, was hard to transform, and the military systems challenging to negotiate. We moved the venue and rescheduled the event to January 2014.

 
 
 
Designer: Vanessa Granger Materials: Chip bags
Designer: Olivia Rose Barnes Materials: Biking materials and parts Quote: “I learned that trash is never gone but with some creativity we can make magic happen!”
Designer:

Photos by Tambi Lane photography

Year 4: Of 46 Central Oregon designers submitting garments, 23 of them were students from 9 local schools (3 elementary, 3 middle, and 3 high schools). Rubbish Renewed had taken its spot as a place where young, inspired designers had a chance to try their hand at a public runway event! Not only had Rubbish Renewed become an outlet for students around the district, locals were taking ownership of the event too! Beyond designers we had 21 sponsors, 9 Business Challenge participants, 11 local vendors, 60+ volunteers!

 
 
 
Serial Designer: Kelly Powell Model: Sasha Lawless Materials: Fused plastic bags
The “Tentalizing” Tarpaulin Designer: Karen Holm Model: Marley Weedman Materials: Old Blue Tarps
Wild Warrior Dog Woman Designer: Simone Kujak Model: Robbie Bianchi Materials: Plastic Feed Bags

Photos by Tambi Lane photography

Year 5: The 5th annual Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion show was the best ever! More fun, more energy and more style. With professional sponsors like Sonic Solution generating our runway and lights, Flip Flop Sounds creating the shows background buzz, with the nimble hands of the stylists from Bishops Barbershop and Velvet finessing our bar, our humble beginnings had blossomed into a full blown anticipated event. We saw just under 1000 people in our 2 shows (students, adults & business) and they rose to the challenge, keeping a passion for the planet front and center! Our trash for the night is highlighted in the photo below! (Everything else was reused, recycled, or composted).

Designer Profile: Jessica Browning

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Jessica Browning created her first garment for Rubbish Renewed as a 7th grader in 2014. Since that time, her complexity of design has soared. When I think of Jessica as a designer, its her masterfully marrying sustainable stories with intricate material manipulation. Learn more about Jessica  and her vision in this designer profile.

Designer/Model: Jessica Browning in the 2019 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show Photo: SHE Photography

RR: What do you do in real life when you are not designing?

JB: I am a manager at Joanne Fabrics as well as a full-time college student pursuing a transfer of Arts degree. I hope to become an illustrator. When I’m not working or at school, I spend my free time drawing and sewing. I run a business through Etsy where I make and sell dice bags (for players of dungeons and dragons). I also enjoy playing Magic the Gathering with my friends and playing video games when I have the time.

RR: How did you become a trash fashion designer?

JB: Going to REALMS for middle school taught me a lot about climate change and sustainability. It became something I was really interested in. When I heard there was a chance for kids to make creations and show them on a runway, my mind was blown. Not only did I have a chance to create something amazing, but it also showcased something I care about. The first two outfits I made were… interesting to say the least. They weren’t technically my creations. It was a collaboration between my brain and my mom. Finally, she gave me the sewing machine and said your turn. From then on, I have made and modeled my garments and it’s always the highlight of my year.

 
 
Designer: Jessica Browning Materials: Plastic newspaper bags Quote: “I really had to think outside the box because finding useful trash materials is harder than using store bought materials.”
Who Let the Dogs Out Designer: Jessica Browning Materials: Dog food bags

RR: What inspires your creations? 

JB: When creating a garment, I don’t really go for just anything. It takes a while to brainstorm materials. I have always tended to drift towards plastic things: Plastic bags, newspaper bags, chip bags, sandwich bags etc. Single use plastics. I gravitate towards these because out of everything someone can do to help and be more sustainable is to cut these single use plastics. There are so many better fabric alternatives. Oregon has taken a great step in fixing this with its ban on plastic bags. So, it’s usually the story behind a material that inspires my creation. A great example is my dress titled Plastic Ocean. I had gone to the beach, one of my family’s favorite spots, and was disappointed by the amount of garbage I found. I took a garbage bag and picked up pieces as we walked along. Then I made them into a dress!

 
 

RR: Describe your design process?

JB: Once I have my material it gets to my favorite part, designing! I sketch up several designs taking in the give of the material and how it will lay. Thinking of different ways to manipulate it. Once I decide on a design I start to create!

RR: What is something you want to share with aspiring trash fashion designers? 

JB: You are never too young! You might need a lot of help and guidance, but if you are determined then your only limit is your imagination. So, shoot for the stars! Find something you are passionate about and create!

 
Simply Math

Competitors for the 2020 Business Challenge are signing up!

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Competitors for the 2020 Business Challenge are signing up! Click on the photo below to learn more about last year’s Business Challenge through Jazmine Turner Photography’s stunning photos. Click HERE to go to her website for more images from all of last year’s show!

Photos by Jazmine Turner Photography

Thank You 2019 Show Designers!

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Announcing the coming season’s RUBBISH RENEWED ECO FASHION SHOW:

SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 2020!

Photos by Suzette Hibble of SHE Photography. Pictured Designs: Kiana Kogan, Amanda Bowers, Wendy Pierce & Devon Stevens, Devon Lizza.

Thank you student designers for your creativity, passion for fashion and our planet, and for shining in the show! You are what makes Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show unique, entertaining, and meaningful.

Aja Kogan, Alice McKnight, Amanda Bowers, Coral Reed, Devon Lizza, Devon Stevens, Ellie Hoiness, Gabriella Shirtcliff, Harper Rich, Holiday Barnes, Jessica Browning, Kiana Kogan, Lily McNabb, Loa Minsker, Louisa, Chloe, Lucy Lamarre, Harris, Mullins, Marley Foster-Wexler, Matea LaFrenz, Noe Anderson, Soli Lachman, Sophie Singer, Soren Chopra, Twyla Wayman, Vinna Ottaviano

Photos by Suzette Hibble of SHE Photography. Pictured Designs: Denise Oldridge, Carla Holm, Mayra Stearns, Allison Murphy.

Thank you adult designers for your stunning designs, refined material manipulation, imaginative style, and dedication to the Rubbish Renewed mission. The 2019 show rocked the house!

Alf Humphrey, Allison Murphy, Aspen Lowe, BBT Architects Inc, Brenda Jackson, Carla Holm, DeeDee Johnson, Denise Oldridge, Erin Donnell, Harriet Langmas, Heidi Lamb, Janet Lansburgh, Jen Riker, Karen Holm, Kari Martinez, Kat Bergman, Kristi Teasdale, Martha Campbell, Mayra Stearns, Meg Knight, Melany Fry, Michelle Handford, Paris Draheim, Patty Baragona, Rob West, Ruby Swanson, Simone Kujak, Susan Galeck, Tenley Wallace, Therese Langley, Tiina McDermott, Wendy Pierce, Zoey Lane.

Thank you Sponsors. You made it possible to showcase these amazing designs that transform trash, inspire community for a more sustainable earth!