Crowds cheered as models strutted through the Siebel Center for Design Saturday evening at the University’s annual Re-Fashioned Fashion Show, a performance highlighting students’ sustainability and creativity through clothing.
Over 100 looks were featured, drawn from four fashion-based arts classes at the University, and represented a vast array of different design prompts ranging from “Zero Waste” to “Gender/Silhouette” and “Found Object Fashion.”
“I really loved the use of all the plastic,” said Kaylen Springfield, a freshman in LAS and audience member. “I must say, it was very interesting how they made them look like real dresses, (but) it was just plastic bags. The potato sacks were also really cool.”
The idea of a “Re-Fashioned” show at the University was born in 2008 when the primary event organizer and clinical assistant professor in FAA, Susan Becker, put on the first show.
“I’m really encouraging people to take things from the waste stream that would have ended up in the trash and create something out of it,” Becker said.
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Becker reported that her background in fashion design has played a large role in inspiring this event. She recounted creating a piece composed of chicken and cow bones during her time studying fashion design and said that being encouraged to use unconventional materials motivated her to urge her students to do the same.
“I’m always encouraging my students, like… ‘If you could go to a store right now and buy what you’re designing, then why are you designing it?’” Becker said. “‘That’s not your unique voice. We’re waiting for that, we’re waiting for what you can say that no one else has said, and you all have that unique voice.’”
In collaboration with Clinical Assistant Professor Chiara Vincenzi and Assistant Producer Joshua Stenger, Becker has been working to make each Re-Fashioned Show better than the last. This year’s show featured diverse music, from futuristic synths to Charli xcx’s “360.”
Becker especially appreciates the challenge of highlighting sustainability while still drawing attention to the fashion community on campus.
“I definitely am always looking at what makes a fashion program — what is unique about learning fashion at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana?” Becker said. “How can I take advantage of the fashion program being situated in an art school situated in one of the premier research institutions?”
Zandra Miller, freshman in FAA, was among the students grateful for this event, as it offered her the unique opportunity to model on a runway for the first time.
“I would say fashion has a decent influence on my life, because, as an actor, I have to focus a lot on my image,” Miller said. “I try not to be influenced by fast fashion, or if I see a trend, I’ll try to find a thrifted version or piece together things.”
Miller described her interest in participating in this year’s Re-Fashioned show as being partially inspired by the environmentally-conscious aspect of the event. She reported that, as one of the only fashion-interested people in her family, she has been wearing hand-me-down and thrifted clothing for years.
For the show, Miller wore a 1920s-inspired flapper dress made from used film rolls, which had been designed by Scarlett Yang, junior in LAS.
Yang credited her love for “The Great Gatsby” as inspiring Miller’s look, yet reportedly struggled with the recyclable aspect of the design.
“If I’m being honest, at first I hated the theme, because I wanted to use fabric,” Yang said. “I hated the recycled theme — I feel like this theme pops up in every single fashion week.”
After overcoming this initial obstacle, however, Yang emphasized that she took pride in the two designs that were featured in the show, one of which she modeled herself. She stressed the importance of taking fashion-related opportunities as they were presented to her, since her passion for design is not accounted for in her major.
“I don’t think I can be a fashion designer after I graduate, so this semester and next year will be my last chances, so it’s very meaningful for me, and I will definitely do the show again next year,” Yang said.
Above all else, this year’s Re-Fashioned Fashion Show strived to show consumers of fashion that clothes can be stylish and visually appealing while still being earth-conscious and simultaneously demonstrating to designers that they can create sustainably.
“I think, ‘Gosh, if I just could just leave (students) with the idea of just thinking twice before they buy something…’” Becker said. “Just that level of hesitation and question could keep so many clothes out of the landfill.”
