From trashcan to couture: Trashion Refashion submissions repurposing items due Feb. 18

Fashion folk have a few weeks and several options to participate in the 2024 Trashion Refashion event, scheduled for April 7 (right before the eclipse) at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Project manager Stephen Hale and colleagues seek designers and models to participate in the annual show featuring outfits using discarded items that are repurposed into outfits.

At least 90% of the materials used must be "trash," or have been saved from the waste stream. Yes, the judges use the honor system. Designers can participate in two different ways. Submission are due by Feb. 18.

Designs can be a (1) "refashion": using items that were meant to be worn one way and changing them into something worn a new way. Think a discarded shawl — cut, shaped, reinforced and turned into boots. Or designers can (2) "transform": make a discarded item into a different item. Think thrown-out soup cans, strung and sequined, turning into a bridal gown. (Imagine Cinderella's stepmother and and the tailoring mice.) Some past entries have featured both refashioning and transformation.

Each year 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste is created by people worldwide, according to the World Bank. Much of that goes mismanaged, safety wise. Countries with the most income create about a third of the waste.

Raising funds for the Center for Sustainable Living while reusing 'trash'

Trashion Refashion is a fundraiser for the Center for Sustainable Living,. which has 12 different projects. Discardia is the one that presents the Trashion show each year.

Artist Jeanne Leimkuhler founded Trashion in 2010. She has given a TED Talk on "creative reuse," and according to YouTube, she cofounded Discardia, a nonprofit organization that teaches the public to create from reusable items. Leimkuhler also is on the board of the Center for Sustainable Living and on the steering committee of the Southern Indiana Renewable Energy Network.

Before moving to California, Leimkuhler was an art preparator at the Indiana University Art Museum (now Eskenazi Museum of Art). Among other duties, an art preparatory manages objects that have been okayed to travel on loan.

Surviving for one and a half decades

In its 15th year, what's keeping the Trashion show going? "(Contestants) keep upping their games," Hale said over the phone. He also credits social media. Last year's show sold out, for the first time. Staff will sell unsold tickets at the door this year.

You want more town-and-gown programs? Hale said, "This is the best example I know."

Hale is older, wiser and more fashionable since he agreed to join the event.

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"I was scared to death"

Around 2016, Hale began organizing Trashion. He had previously modeled for one of its designers. "I said OK, having no idea what I was saying OK to." Curious, he modeled, donning a shower curtain, Geisha shoes and a crown. "I was scared to death. It was a real trip to walk on those shoes. I don't know what happened. But somehow I was on!"

Designers submit photos of their outfits. "It's often clear that the materials are well-worn and have had previous lives," Hale said.

Anything that has been rescued from the trash heap can go into a Trashion design. These are some of the materials used in past shows: bottle caps, camp chairs, scarves, graduation gowns, neckties.

Seeking solo or group submissions and models

People may also form a group and submit that way too. Rehearsal for the models is March 24 and is required. Personal information will not be shared. Models’ personal information will be protected. Visit bloomingtontrashion.org for details on how to register as a model or how to submit fashion designs.

Judges' decisions will be announced in early March.

Information on how to enter the Trashion show

WHAT: Design entries-call for the 2024 Trashion Refashion Show

WHEN: Deadline to submit is Feb. 18, with decisions in early March

HOW: Trashion website has been updated. Go to bloomingtontrashion.org for the 2024 Trashion Refashion Show's call for entries or check out info at instagram.com/p/C0SEMS0p4tn/.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: From trashcan to couture: Trashion Refashion submissions due Feb. 18