This year we were lucky to have a young journalist, Milan Anderson, create a video piece on the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show for the Obsidian (the inaugural youth publication from the Future Journalists of America program). Milan, two-time winner of Bend Film’s Future Filmmaker Award and a 2024 Realms graduate off to film school, created this 7+ minute piece. Check it out, and see some trash fashion in motion, hear about our humble beginnings, and celebrate Bend’s talented youth.
Category Archives: Fashion Show
First Glimpse – Show Fashion Photos!
Designers from 2nd grade to their 90’s created the unique trash fashion pieces that came to life on this year’s Rubbish Renewed runway. Materials from old single socks, farm refuse, net veggie bags, to an old garden hose were masterfully manipulate into sustainable style. Here is the first glimpse of a few fashion photos illuminating the brilliance of our trash fashion designer community!
Thanks to a skilled team of photographers, Kimberly Teichrow, Joe Kline, and Melissa Barnes Dholakia, we have a diverse set of images to tell the 2024 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show story. More posts with photos to come soon including full galleries. Keep checking!
Photos by Kimberly Teichrow Photography
Check out Kimberly Teichrow’s full gallery of Rubbish Renewed portraits for purchase at Kimberly Teichrow’s 2024 Rubbish Renewed Proofs
Photos by Joe Kline Photography
Check out Joe Kline’s atmospheric images in his gallery of Rubbish Renewed photos for purchase at Joe Kline Rubbish Renewed Gallery 2024
Photos by Melissa Barnes Dholakia
Thank You 2024 Rubbish Renewed Sponsors!
The Pavilion indoor/outdoor environment was the perfect setting for the 12th Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show! The weather was flawless, the crowd energized, the vibe celebratory, and the runway stunning! Bendites perused the sustainable marketplace, local beverages and food, and most prominently interacted with re-envisioning rubbish both on and off the runway.
Together we celebrated the creativity of students from 14 local schools (our greatest participation ever), Central Oregon adults, and businesses on the runway. Together we created the best fundraising and eco-elevating event in Bend! We couldn’t have done it without our sponsors!
If you’ve been to the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show, you know it takes a village to produce. So many parts come together to create this spectacular, sustainably-minded event. Cash sponsors support infrastructure (like venue rental) and in-kind sponsors bring items (like beverages) and skills (like hair styling) that we couldn’t create on our own.
THANK YOU to each of our sponsors for supporting the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show make an impact on creativity and sustainable vision in our forward-thinking community.
Model: Holly Graham Materials: Sterile “blue” polypropylene (#5 plastic) wrap
Photographer: Joe Kline
These sponsors belief in our mission helped bring Central Oregon a creative, inspiring, and sustainable fundraiser once again! Together we raised almost $20,000 for REALMS Schools continuing the vision to foster scholarship, strengthen community, and inspire stewardship through active learning.
Thank you!
Thank You Bend!
The Pavilion indoor/outdoor environment was the perfect setting for the 12th annual Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show! Sunny, not too hot, spring weather created the relaxed vibe adding to the festive, fashion-forward fun. Bendites perused the sustainable marketplace, local beverages and food, and most prominently interacted with re-envisioning rubbish both on and off the runway. It was a captivating event!
Thank you Bend for once again coming out to celebrate sustainability, creativity, student inspiration, and more! You rock!
And the 2024 Business Challenge Winner is…
It was a tight vote this year for the Business Challenge winner with 8 creative garments presented by 8 unique businesses (Restore, Gear Fix, Lonza, Humm, Brave, Jackson’s Corner, OAS, and Bend Anesthesiology Group) who take their sustainability seriously.
And the winner is Gear Fix taking home the 2024 Rubbish Renewed Coveted Trash Trophy for their 1st time in 4 competition. Congratulations Gear Fix! We hope you display this trophy prominently.
More photos to come soon!
1 Day Away! Business Challenge Preview
Excitement is building for the The Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show Business Challenge competition just 1 day away! 8 businesses dedicated to sustainable practices, are coming together to celebrate sustainability, support Realms education, and compete for the Coveted Trash Trophy!
Rob, of Trailers4Two, has created another beautiful, discarded-scrap-laminate Trash Trophy. One of the following Business Challenge participants will take the Coveted Trash Trophy home!
ReStore is competing in its 11th Business Challenge! That is every year (we didn’t have it year 1). At ReStore they must drink a lot of Yerba Mate, and with designer DeeDee Johnson’s incredible material manipulation it will be one unique piece. Gear Fix, back for their 4th Business Challenge, has a growing team of designers led by Nico Brilmyer and with that, a growing garment. This looks ready for the Met Gala!
Lonza, also back for their 4th Business Challenge. has repurposed their previous Business Challenge garments each year. This is its 4th reincarnation led by designer Kari D’Angona. Another returning businesses for their 3rd competition is Humm Kombucha who was back last year. Mother daughter team, Michelle Mitchell and Mae Plantenberg, create a patterned piece of plastic pallet wrap encased in outdated labels.
Brave Boutique, back in the Business Challenge with another Jen Ryker, bigger than life piece. As a boutique, packaging is the largest waste to deal with. Jen pulled out her power tools to create this armor. Although Jackson’s Corner has been involved in the past with Rubbish Renewed, this is their 1st Business Challenge! But designer Allison Murphy has had multiple designs in the Business Challenge over the years. Allison, one of the founders of Rubbish Renewed, is an outstanding designer and maker. We will all be blown away.
And joining this seasoned crew of Business Challenge participants for their first time are Oregon Adaptive Sports and Bend Anesthesiology Group! One of the few waste items OAS produces are single leftover gloves/mittens when one is lost, and popped bike tubes. Designer Martha Campbell meticulously quilted these gloves together to create this versatile jacket. Bend Anesthesiology Group is inspired to make an impact on hospital waste produced in the OR. They are currently exploring repurposing and recycling the large amount of blue polypropylene wrap going to the landfill. Their Business Challenge gown designed and created by a team of Anesthesiologists, RN’s and Radiology Techs, makes an impact on the environment and on the runway!
Bring your friends and your voting block to support your pick for the Coveted Trash Trophy!
Saturday May 11th at the Pavilion doors at 5:30pm! Get your tickets today!
9-Days Away! Celebrate an Array of Trash Textures
Here is a sneak peak of the array of trash textures creating this year’s fashion on the runway in just 9 days! Designers re-envision refuse and sew, drape, fuse, weave, braid…to create the electrifying pieces for the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show making their statement for the environment. Get your tickets today!
Garment Submission Deadline April 5th – 1 week away!
Just 1 week until the submission deadline at midnight on Friday, April 5th. Remember that you do not need to have your garment completed, but the further along you are, the easier it is for the jury to recognize your vision in your photos and artist renderings. Read the material guidelines carefully. Here is the link to the Runway Submission Page. It doesn’t hurt to get your submission in early. Check out these materials from a few designs that have started to roll in!
Submit your garment design in just 3 EASY STEPS to be considered for the 12th Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show on Saturday, May 11th
- Complete the Submission Form linked from the Runway Submission Page
- Pay Submission Fee
- Send 3 photos of your design
Complete the submission process by the deadline of midnight << Friday, April 5th >>
We can’t wait to see what you create!
Runway Submissions are Open
It’s the designers, and their creativity, material manipulation, passion for fashion and our planet, that makes Rubbish Renewed unique, entertaining, and meaningful. Each year designers, like you, have made this one of the most coveted and exciting shows in Bend!
The Student and Adult Designer Submission Forms are up and will be open until the Garment Submission deadline at midnight on Friday, April 5th. For inspiration on the trash fashion creation process, student and adult designs, the runway show, the event, and our garment criteria, watch one or both of these short videos (3-4+ minutes – with some slightly different information):
Let us know what you are working on. We will highlight several designers again this year. Spread the word and get designing!
What will you Create?
How About that Diamond Runway by Flip Flop Sounds
The first year at a new venue exploration and creativity reign. The second year you get to refine. We are thrilled to take what we learned from the 2023 revival of Rubbish Renewed and elevate it for the 2024 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. One thing we loved was Flip Flop Sounds diamond runway!
A few of us were gathered with Courtney (the mastermind behind Flip Flop Sounds) at a local watering hole chatting about the Pavilion as a venue, and Courtney started to sketch ideas. The ideas blew our minds, and the diamond runway was born!
Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show 