When I first shared the idea with men I know, there was an undercurrent of grumblings, “fashion, that’s for women” . . . “Nothing there for me” . . . “Whatever” . . . That first year we suppressed these objections, focusing our time getting the event up and running. But by year 2, we realized how energized the men who came to the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show found themselves wrapped in the experience.

The event is creative, it’s edgy, using crazy materials to create visual splendor grounded in sustainability, worn by real people with personalities.  The “models” present an image revealed by merging aesthetics, vision, trash and action – living art.  It’s not a bunch of unrealistically, skinny-stiff bodies, wearing things that distort the women’s figure.

The spectacle of the runway is coupled with a unique Bend energy.  Local libations including beer from Boneyard, a brewery forged from beer rendering rubbish, Kombucha Mama, Crazy Dave’s Ginger Brew and Bend Distillery’s Crater Lake Vodka; cool music with sound from Sonic Solutions; a local artists, gallery-style marketplace, including the likes of Stuart Breidenstein’s jewelry, and Workhouse artists.

No matter what your impression of fashion, your ideas will be transformed by this forward-thinking event.  Hey guys don’t write this off.   Maybe next year you’ll even want to model on the runway.