From inside of her dorm room, Grace Thomas ’26 of Bethesda, Md., heard a clinking outside of her door. She peeked into the hallway to find a trash bag dumped on her doorstep. A fragrance drifted up from the bag, which was full of empty metal cans.

They were exactly what she needed.

For months, Thomas and Annie Robinson ’26 of Atlanta, Ga., had been campaigning friends — and friends of friends — across campus for their leftover cans and metal bottle caps. This latest delivery comprised leftovers from a birthday party for a friend’s boyfriend’s football teammate.

After meticulously washing out each can in an Olin Arts Center sink, Robinson and Thomas combined the cans with several other kinds of waste to form their winning design for the 20th annual Trashion Show, held on Nov. 19 in Alumni Gymnasium. The show takes place annually after Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events’ Harvest Dinner, a fall-themed meal in Commons open to the public and featuring live music and horse-drawn carriage rides across campus. 

Trashion invites �ֲ���ý students, faculty, and staff to construct runway pieces out of trash with the goal of bringing awareness to the amount of waste produced on a college campus — even one that prides itself on having achieved a carbon neutral standard of sustainability in 2019, when �ֲ���ý was only one of seven colleges in the country to have achieved that standard. 

The �ֲ���ý student EcoReps organize the show. All designers provide a brief description of and backstory for their pieces, which student emcees read aloud to the audience during the show. A panel of judges — this year made up of Associate Director of Culinary & Retail Operations and Executive Chef Michael Staffenski, Associate Professor of German Jakub Kazecki, Campus Safety Supervisor Mark Cayer, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Christine Martinez, and Associate Dean for International Student Programs James Reese from Global Education — generate some light competition among entrants. 

Thomas and Robinson went into the event as defending champions, having won last year with a ballgown made of rolled-up paper from academic readings, co-designed by both students and modeled by Thomas.

“Now there’s expectations for ourselves,” Thomas said two days before the competition, as the two were crushing cans and cutting strips of cardboard for this year’s design. “The pressure is on.”

The designers started thinking about this year’s entry the day after last year’s Trashion Show. They wanted to make something completely different from last year’s ballgown, which was monochromatic and chic, so they spent hours scrolling Pinterest and sketching possible designs. Thomas suggested incorporating metal bottle caps, and the outline of the outfit formed around that medium.

The final design featured a denim skirt made of old blue jeans, overlaid with ribbons of paper and strips of turquoise hammock fabric strung through about one hundred crushed cans, all held up by a belt also made from the hammock. The top was made from multicolor cardboard, plastic, and fabric woven together and adorned with bottle caps. They completed the look with a wig made from strips of cardboard and hammock fabric and a necklace of bottle caps. The plan was that Thomas would model, but they made Robinson a pair of matching bottle cap earrings to wear backstage.

Each material tells the story of a relationship: a friend’s torn jeans in the skirt, fabric pulled from another friend’s ripped hammock that hung outside Page Hall their freshman year, cans from the football team, and more. 

“We’ve had so many people’s trash and help,” Robinson said. “I’ll get texts like, ‘Oh, do you still need bottle caps from people?’ I don’t remember talking to them about this, but they’re happy to help.”

Many of the bottle caps came from a surprising secret stash. Robinson was visiting a craft-loving friend who lives in Turner Hall and happened to ask if she had any spare caps sitting around. The friend pointed Robinson to the crevice between the heater and the wall, where a collection of bottle caps had apparently been growing for years. Previous occupants had created the cache, Robinson’s friend said, for no apparent reason except amusement.

“What is this pile for, if not for Trashion?” Robinson thought to herself. She grabbed chopsticks and scissors to get into the space, which was too small for her hand, and dug out every bottle cap.

Thomas and Robinson constructed their design in Olin Arts Center’s room 321, the same number, coincidentally, as the duo’s freshman year dorm room in Parker Hall. As new �ֲ���ýies, they bonded over making arts and crafts and had a shared wall between their beds that they decorated with art and ephemera from “anything that happened together,” Robinson said.

When Robinson, who is a double major in economics and gender and sexuality studies, learned about the Trashion Show, she knew that she and Thomas, a studio art major, would make a great team.

This year, even though they’re both swamped with thesis projects, they still made time to meet in Olin to craft, their miscellaneous cardboard and fabric scraps spread out across the studio floor as they transformed trash into �ֲ���ý couture.

“Do I look like a little kid playing dress up?” Thomas asked as she tried on the cardboard base she had constructed for the wig. She was engineering a way to create bangs that would hold their shape and not fall in her face. She landed on little strips of cardboard that curled upward so that she could safely see the Trashion stage.

“Visibility is crucial,” Thomas said.

Two days later, against the backdrop of colorful lights, Thomas modeled the outfit to a cheering crowd of Trashion attendees. The clink of the dozens of cans adorning her skirt complemented the music played by student DJ Djibril Diaw ’27 of Mount Hernon, Mass. For the second year in a row, Thomas and Robinson won first place for their design, earning a $75 gift card to Forage Market in Lewiston.

Students from Professor of French and Francophone Studies Kirk Read’s first-year seminar “Family Stories” earned third place honors at the Trashion Show for their design featuring paper birds, fans, snowflakes, and airplanes, constructed with recycled paper from paper mills in central Maine and modeled by Finn Merrick ’29 of Easton, Md.

In second place was Read himself, who modeled an academic gown made from an antique table cloth and adorned with fallen yellow leaves from the beloved ginkgo tree outside of Carnegie Science Hall. Read and his longtime partner in Trashion creations, Kerry O’Brien, retired assistant dean in the Dean of the Faculty office, co-designed the piece. As he walked, Read threw ginkgo leaves into the air and around the runway. 

Among the other elaborate designs was another leafy piece by seniors Elle Stogel, Caroline Mayer, Vyshu Viju, and Ellie Millard, and modeled by Millard. That dress was constructed from shredded paper, tissues, and real maple leaves. The designers aimed to draw awareness to key environmental issues in Maine, including recycling bottles and cans, but most crucial to the dress itself, the ways in which climate change is already threatening the state’s maple sugar industry. 

“We knew that this is something big that’s going on in Maine right now, and we wanted to advertise it,” Millard said.

After most of the audience had left, ginkgo leaves from Read’s costume lingered on the stage. They fit in nicely with the autumn decor around Alumni Gym, including a fall-themed photo backdrop behind pumpkins and a stationary four-wheeler — where a few students sat to watch the show — and tables laden with desserts like Baked Alaska and red velvet cupcakes. 

Gazing across the ginkgo leaves after the show, Robinson reflected on her final fall at �ֲ���ý.

“It’s fall confetti,” Robinson said. “It’s a great final celebration of the last time I’m going to see that ginkgo tree outside of Carnegie.”

Additional student designers and models comprised:

• Mary Parker ’27, Hazel Krinsky ’27, Arnav Panigrahi ’27, and Surta Shah ’28, who modeled pieces crafted from surgical blue wrap by Partners for World Health
• Shay Campolongo ’26, who designed and modeled a skirt and shirt made with over 200 film slides
• Campbell MacDonald ’27 who modeled and designed a cardboard suit
• Ava Teleki ’29 who modeled and designed an outfit from yogurt and milk containers
• Alessandra Williams ’29, who co-designed and modeled the �ֲ���ý Environmental Coalition’s design made from a Halloween costume and candy wrappers
• Sophia Lebeau Toung ’28, who modeled an outfit fashioned from candy and snack wrappers, co-designed with Ella Albright ’28
• Daisy O’Dwyer ’26, who modeled and designed an outfit featuring a shirt of Dum Dum lollipop wrappers and a skirt from a trash bag
• Mikayla Ferguson ’28, who designed and modeled a dress from scraps of old t-shirts
• Erik Lindholm ’27, who modeled and co-designed an outfit by the �ֲ���ý EcoReps, made of materials including compost bags, newspapers, and a bike tube

Watch the full Trashion video below:

At the �ֲ���ý Trashion Show, one person’s trash is not just another’s treasure, but perhaps even another’s trend.

The event, held annually after the Harvest Meal in Commons, invites students, faculty, and staff to design and display couture outfits fashioned from campus waste.

�ֲ���ý has been a carbon-neutral institution since 2019 and aims to become climate-positive by 2030. The college leads numerous projects geared toward improving sustainability on campus. The Trashion Show is one such effort, merging fun, fashion, and environmental responsibility to illustrate the volume of waste created at �ֲ���ý.

Awaiting the start of the 19th annual show on Wednesday evening, a wide gathering of campus community members — students plus faculty and staff, some with their children — milled about in the Clifton Daggett Gray Athletic Building, snacking on assorted desserts and dancing to music by student DJ Ethan Rayburn ’25 of Blacklick, Ohio, while folks took photos in front of a fall-themed photo booth. 

Beyond the crowd, the empty Trashion Show stage anticipated its models. Designers snuck backstage, creations in hand, to make final adjustments before displaying their outfits under runway lights.

�ֲ���ý President Garry W. Jenkins arrived and adopted a temporary title of fashion critic as he joined the judges’ panel for the night. 

“This is quintessential �ֲ���ý,” Jenkins said. “It’s fun, but it’s also raising awareness of important issues and people celebrating fellow faculty, staff, students coming together.” 

As the show began, the crowd conveyed this community sentiment with roars of applause and yells for the models. Students were especially enthused for model and designer Cheryl Lacey, a longtime �ֲ���ý staff member and director of Dining Services.

“I know how much our staff care about the students and to see them give the love right back is a beautiful thing,” Jenkins said.

Though the show was held in a space nicknamed the Cage, the participating students, faculty, and staff were certainly not constrained when it came to making statements with their fashionable, trash-laden pieces. Designs included an outfit fashioned in a traditional Nepali style from gift wrapping paper, a lengthy skirt and train made of shopping bags, and a top and skirt composed of food packaging waste.

After deliberation, the judges awarded co-designers Annie Robinson ’26 of Atlanta, Ga., and Grace Thomas ’26 of Bethesda, Md., first place for their elegant white gown made from recycled course readings. Second place went to Lacey, and Professor of French and Francophone Studies Kirk Read received third place.

The �ֲ���ý student EcoReps, �ֲ���ý College Student Government, and Dining, Conferences and Campus Events co-hosted the Trashion Show. EcoReps Julia Neumann ’25 of Park City, Utah, and Aneeza Ahmad ’25 of Sharon, Mass., managed the show. The emcees were BCSG co-presidents Sivani Arvapalli ’26 of South Windsor, Conn., and Ethan Chan ’25 of Westborough, Mass.

Each of the eight designer/model groups presented different interpretations of Trashion, style, and sustainability:

EcoReps Take the Stage

The Team: Isabelle Larson ’25 of East Aurora, N.Y., and Nimco Jama ’25 of Hargeisa, Somaliland

Signature Use of Trash: Grocery bags

As �ֲ���ý EcoReps, both Larson and Jama are eco-minded.

The students chose plastic and paper grocery bags as their design materials because of the items’ ubiquitous presence, and therefore heavy contribution to waste, in daily life.  

“We wanted the simplicity of our costumes to reflect everyday use of these materials,” said Larson, a double major in biology and earth and climate sciences. “They’re so common.”

Jama used plastic bags for her outfit, while Larson used paper. This was intentional, to highlight the small yet powerful choices every person can make, such as simply switching from plastic to paper bags to reduce waste.

“When you’re met with these choices about being sustainable, there is always an option,” Larson said. “Even with grocery bags, you can have an impact and limit your plastic use.”

When the show paused for the judges’ deliberation, student EcoReps Maddie Weinstein ’27 and Caroline Mayer ’26 took the stage to quiz students about recycling facts, such as which �ֲ���ý dorm recycles the least and how to effectively clean different materials before recycling them.

Jama, a biology major, said that the segment was a good opportunity for students to take away messages about how to recycle correctly. “A lot of people usually get confused about very small things that do make a big impact on whether you recycle it or put it in a trash can,” Jama said.

The Trashion Show is far from the EcoReps’ only foray into the world of sustainability. Jama, for example, works at the �ֲ���ý Garden known as the Plot, farming organic produce used in on-campus dining.

“I have been working for the Plot since my freshman year, and I’ve kind of been involved in that way, really wanting to make an impact on campus,” Jama said.

The Trashion Show fits neatly into Larson’s academic work, which centers heavily around sustainability.

“I talk about sustainability and climate change every single day,” Larson said. “It’s just another way to represent activism.”

Read What You Sew

The Team: Annie Robinson ’26 of Atlanta, Ga., and Grace Thomas ’26 of Bethesda, Md.

Signature Use of Trash: Printed academic readings

Co-designers Robinson and Thomas won first prize, a $75 gift card to Forage Market, for their magnificent white gown crafted mainly from paper and accessorized with soda tabs.

Robinson was initially inspired to participate in the Trashion Show when reflecting on a trashion-esque project she made in third grade. She reached out to Thomas, an art major, to make this year’s dress, and the two took inspiration from Pinterest and other online designs.

Robinson and Thomas made the dress, modeled by Thomas, from printed paper readings, both from their own coursework and donated by friends. They made the bouncy skirt from stacks of paper rolled up, then placed into tiered layers, and finally tied and stapled together. Variously colored annotations and even a JSTOR logo peeked out from between layers.

“We print readings all the time,” Thomas said. “This is several hundred pages of readings.”

As with many Trashion looks, the dress was difficult to fully try on until the night of the show, when the designers were able to securely tie everything into place.

“This is the best we’ve ever seen it,” said Robinson, an economics major.

Thomas also sported jewelry and a purse made from soda tabs. The designers collected about 10 percent of the soda tabs themselves, Robinson said, while a friend’s mom collected and donated the other 90 percent.

The two designers completed the look with boots crafted from the same printed readings, accented with soda tabs snaking around the sides and fronts of the shoes.

Third Time’s the Trashionista

The Team: Kirk Read, Professor of French and Francophone Studies, and Kerry O’Brien, retired Assistant Dean in the Dean of the Faculty office

Signature Use of Trash: 25 years of collected The Adventures of Tintin calendars

In his third year of walking in the Trashion Show, Read took home third prize. His tunic, covered in images from the world of Belgian cartoon character Tintin, could be considered a vintage piece, with some of its materials dating back over two decades. Read walked down the runway to the tune of “Love Hate Song” by none other than musician Alisa Amador ’18, who, as a student, was Read’s thesis advisee.

The piece introduced a new style of fashion that Read dubbed “acleisure:” academic leisure clothing.

“I am a fanatic of Tintin,” Read said. “I am both an advertisement and a ‘trashionista.’”

Kerry O’Brien, a retired assistant dean in the Dean of the Faculty office and previous Trashion Show designer, assisted Read with this year’s creation. Their one-of-a-kind work doesn’t come cheap — a tag dangling off of the design proudly touted the name “House of O’Brien-Read” alongside a hefty price of 4,000 euros.

“I love the creativity. I love the students in this,” Read said of the Trashion Show. “I’m not here to win. I’m here just to have fun and to look at what they can do. It’s just amazing.”

Groooooovy!

The Team: Juno Rogers ’28 of Decatur, Ga., Natalie Damer-Salas ’28 of Atlanta, Ga., and Ella Hassler ’28 of Kent, Ohio

Signature Use of Trash: Trash bags, sourced straight from dorm garbage

With this piece, modeled by Hassler, the designers got scrappy and scrounged materials from their dorm garbages. 

“We looked through the trash rooms in our various dorms, and we found these supplies,” Rogers said.

Using paper bags, cardboard boxes, and trash bags, they crafted a dress with a hot pink top and matching colorful skirt adorned with flowers. Angel wings coated in trash feathers completed the look and evoked Victoria’s Secret’s signature design, popularized by the brand’s runway show.

The designers found inspiration for the neon dress in the Finnish brand Marimekko, whose multicolored, flower power-esque designs came to represent women’s freedom in the hippie ‘60s.

“Even though Marimekko is a consumerist brand and uses flashy colors, it’s always stood for more progressive values,” Rogers said. “The bold colors on our dress are supposed to represent Bohemianism and the intersection between consumerism and Bohemianism.”

Trash Transformed to Tradition

The Team: Shristi Tamang ’28 of Kathmandu, Nepal, and Mari Nolasco Alcantara ’28 of Tlaxcala, Mexico

Signature Use of Trash: Real flowers in resin

For her bright set of clothing, designer Tamang drew inspiration from her home country of Nepal. 

“It was inspired by a Nepali Tamang Selo,” Tamang said. “It’s about vibrant skirts and a top.”

Tamang’s design, featuring a white blouse and flowing skirt composed of bright blocks of paper, echoes the elegance and vibrance of the dresses often worn by performers during Tamang Selo, a music and dance of the indigenous Tamang people of the Himalayan region of Nepal.

Accompanied by Taman Selo music, Alcantara modeled the outfit, showing off the light, airy skirt and matching white top as she glided down the runway. Tamang created the colorful skirt from gift wrapping paper and accessorized the outfit with a jewelry set handmade from flowers preserved in resin. A purse adorned with the same plastic material as the blouse completed the look.

“These are made from real flowers,” Tamang said, pointing toward a bright purple flower on Alcantara’s necklace. “Even the earrings are made from real flowers.”

Sustainable Material, Girl!

The Team: Vera Song ’27 of Naperville, Ill., Sadie Rooney ’27 of Andover, Mass., and Ellie Millard ’26 of Harrison, N.Y. 

Signature Use of Trash: Red Target shopping bags

Rooney took the stage in this group’s bright red, bullseye-patterned skirt, complete with a matching trail, to prove that being fashionable can be an eco-conscious endeavor.

The designers created the top of the look, a white crop top adorned with paper flowers, from reused academic readings, including articles about the environment, and used cups. 

“We’ve tried to pull in readings that we were assigned in class or had to print out for class because we felt like they should be repurposed in some way,” said Rooney, an economics and environmental studies major.

For the bottom of the outfit, the designers shaped Target shopping bags into a lengthy, elegant skirt. 

The designers are members of Plant Futures, a student organization dedicated to plant-centric food systems and sustainable practices. Both the readings and bags were unused items that the students had sitting around their homes.

In her white and red outfit fit for a billboard, Rooney looked straight out of a Target ad campaign touting sustainability. In the words of their runway script, “you can be fabulous and eco-conscious, no material world required.”

Time and Space Travel

The Team: Sophia Porecca ’28 of Sugar Land, Texas, and Celia Horowitz ’28 of Salt Lake City, Utah

Signature Use of Trash: Discarded chemistry glasses

Porecca and Horowitz turned back the clock with their ’80s space pop-inspired piece.

The designers made this outfit from tissue paper, Monster Energy drink packaging, and an Amazon package.

Gathering the materials made them realize “how much trash we normally use on a day-to-day basis. I think that’s the whole point of the exhibition,” Porecca said. “It was really cool to see how much we could accumulate. We didn’t even end up using more than half of it.”

They completed the look with Horowitz’s discarded chemistry lab glasses, fashioned from a plain academic accessory into out-of-this-world gold reflective goggles. She echoed Porecca’s sentiment about the sheer volume of waste.

“It’s a big pile,” Horowitz said of the trash the two accumulated while making the project. “We didn’t realize.”

Coffee Bags and Milk Machines and Broken CDs, Oh My!

The Team: Cheryl Lacey, Director of Dining Services

Signature Use of Trash: Coffee creamer pump turned antenna

This was Lacey’s third and final Trashion appearance — she retires in January. For her eclectic amalgamation of food packaging made glamorous, the judges awarded Lacey with second prize.

In her role as director of Dining Services, Lacey sees firsthand the amount of waste generated by food packaging.

“One of the things about packaging in food service is a lot of plastic,” Lacey said. “It’s necessary because you’ve got to worry about food safety. You have to worry about freshness and quality so it’s necessary but most of that’s not recyclable.” Someday, she hopes, food packaging will be sustainable and safe.

To craft her quirky, almost extraterrestrial outfit, Lacey incorporated waste from Commons and other locations. Materials included plastic pasta bags, coffee bags, chocolate chip bags, a bag for limes, a bag for clementines, a container for watermelon, milk machine parts, alternative milk item packaging, and broken CDs. The pump from inside a coffee creamer carton perched on her head like an antenna completed the striking outfit.

Lacey’s participation in creative and illuminating events like the Trashion show will be part of her legacy at �ֲ���ý as a lively, dedicated staff member.

“I think it does call attention to the issue of waste and trying to divert waste from the waste stream, but beyond that, it just brings out the creativity in people and you see the most inspiring outfits,” Lacey said. “It’s amazing to see what people can do with trash. Amazing.”

Towering nearly 10 feet high, the stilt-walking student modeled a giant braided cardboard costume topped by a massive, gaping mask.

That was certainly notable. But the hundreds who attended the 23rd edition of the �ֲ���ý Trashion Show also erupted in cheers when the kilted Highlander model jumped onto the stage in a breastplate made of old plastic name tags.

These were just a few of the creative and recycled homemade garments — and two of the winners — featured in this year’s Trashion Show. Produced by the student EcoReps in conjunction with the annual Harvest Dinner, the event promotes recycling and reusing by showcasing outfits created from reclaimed campus trash by students, faculty, and staff.

Held on Nov. 15 in the Gray Athletic Building, the 2023 edition brought in one of the largest fields with nine teams of designers and models comprising students, faculty, and staff.

Sloan Phillips ’25 of Evergreen, Colo, created the winning design with their woven cardboard skirt, massive headdress, and gloves that were modeled by a stilt-savvy and dance-happy Miguel Angel Pacheco ’24 of Caracas, Venezuela.

More than 300 �ֲ���ý faithful who watched Pacheco parade around the runway like a giant cardboard creature loved it. Many approached him after the show to ask how he got into his garment. 

“We had a ladder. It’s a process,” Pacheco said looking down as he responded from behind his massive mask.

President Garry W. Jenkins appeared shortly before the 6 p.m. start, with his husband, Jon Lee, both of them happily milling in the post-Harvest-Dinner crowd, ready to take in this year’s crop of recycled outfits made of such repurposed materials as shopping bags, newspaper, event ribbons, even a trash can cover.

“It’s a great tradition at �ֲ���ý. I’m excited to experience my first Trashion Show, which is a great way to highlight the sustainability efforts at �ֲ���ý — and also the students’ creativity, which is really inspiring,” Jenkins said.

While Phillips and Pacheco took top honors, second place went to designer Ashley Taylor ’27 of Lexington, Mass., and model Annie Menden ’26 of Helena, Mont. Designer Kerry O’Brien, a retired assistant dean in the Dean of Faculty Office, and model Kirk Read, professor of French and francophone studies, took home third-place honors.

There were five judges this year: Assistant Professor of Politics Seulgie Lim, Visiting Lecturer in Russian Cheryl Stephenson, Alison Montgomery, the head women’s basketball coach, Jackie Luckhardt, the assistant women’s basketball coach, and Robin Graziano, a retail operations associate in Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events.

The show was a collaborative production hosted by �ֲ���ý EcoReps, �ֲ���ý College Student Government, and �ֲ���ý Dining Services. The Trashion events team were EcoReps Aneeza Ahmad 25’ of Sharon, Mass., and Davina Kabantu ’24 of Portland, Maine. The emcees were Student Government co-presidents Rebecca Anderson ‘24 of Booone, N.C., and Dhruv Chandra ‘25 of Kolkata, India.

Many other teams entered costumes that were silly and elaborate, or simply unexpected. Here’s what this year’s designers and models brought to the runway: 

Redefining Beauty

Designer: Sloan Phillips ’25 of Evergreen, Colo.

Model: Miguel Angel Pacheco ’24 of Caracas, Venezuela

Signature Use of Trash: Cardboard boxes — on purpose

What the Designers Say: Phillips wanted to convey a message about society’s constricted view of gender — that they said was like a box. So Phillips sought to redefine cardboard boxes by shredding and weaving them into something beautiful: a giant skirt, arm bands, and mask complete with huge lashes.

“My experience as a trans person in our society is that it doesn’t allow many trans people to be fully themselves. So the cardboard box is metaphorical — the fact it’s shredded, because by shredding it, you redefine it,” Sloan said. 

Then they wanted the outfit to move through the gym high up on stilts, to deliver their message in a powerful way. Pacheco — who has clowning, stilt-walking and other street-performance talents— was only too happy to oblige. 

“Part of my inspiration was the desire to outwardly express the feelings of monstrosity projected onto a trans body,” Phillips said. “The trans body is viewed as inherently unnatural in the mainstream. I wanted to create an outfit that outwardly projected the feelings projected onto a trans person — and also to create something beautiful.” 

Here are portraits of each of this year’s nine portraits, photographed against red and blue backdrops set up in Gray Athletic Building during the show.

Flowers and Folds

Designer: Ashley Taylor ’27 of Lexington, Mass.

Model: Annie Menden ’26 of Helena, Mont. 

Signature use of Trash: Newspapers and magazines

What the designer said: When her cross country season ended and indoor track had not yet begun, Taylor was looking for something creative to do.

“I wanted to do something to entertain myself. I sew a lot and I feel like paper looks cool when it’s folded in a certain way. And I like to read and write a lot. So I thought incorporating words and stories into my garment would be cool,” Taylor said. 

She wanted to illustrate the awe-inspiring joy that stories can bring to people. Knowing her parents recycled piles of newspapers and magazines, Taylor asked them to mail them to �ֲ���ý, because both are filled with stories. She turned the recycled pages into 30 to 40 paper roses folded together and arranged side by side on the garment top. For the skirt, she arranged squares from newspapers and magazines into a checkerboard pattern, adding a similar checkerboard design to the back of the top. She threw in a floral headband for good measure.

Return of the Highlander  

Designer: Kerry O’Brien, former assistant dean in the Dean of Faculty Office

Model: Kirk Read, professor of French and francophone studies

Signature Trash: Plastic name tags from the many events and conferences Read has attended

What the Designer Says: After a year off, the “Fashion House of Read–O’Brien” returned to the show with a touch of history to help them claim third place.  

O’Brien did the research to make their Scottish Highlander outfit historically accurate, a nod to Read’s 50 percent Scottish heritage. Read provided the materials, chiefly his collection of more than 100 name tags saved from the past 32 years of various campus events and and academic conferences. Those were fashioned into the breastplate of his Highlander outfit.

The skirt was made of used (but washed) COVID masks, one of the designer’s favorite materials. O’Brien did all the research to assure the kilt, belt, and warrior sash were authentic (or as authentic as a Highlander outfit made of trash can be), but said that her former colleague conceived the entire idea: “He’s the visionary, just like Christian Dior.” 

Holding Out For a Hero

Designer: Ana Fowler ’24 of Westfield, N.J.

Model: Ana Fowler 

Signature Use of Trash: Recycled paper Purposeful Work banners 

What the Designers Said: When Fowler, who works in the Center for Purposeful Work, saw her employers throwing out old banners, she decided to turn those banners into an advertisement to make other students aware of the Purposeful Work job shadow deadline of Nov. 29.

So she created a superhero costume by gluing together the old banners and fashioning them into a jumpsuit and cape. She added a paper mask.

If there was any doubt Fowler portrayed a superhero on the runway, she added a song to make it obvious: Bonny Tyler’s “Holding out for a Hero.” The audience went nuts. 

“I really wanted to shed Purposeful Work in a more silly light, to make it more approachable,” Fowler said. “I want to get the word out and to encourage people to go. I have several friends who have used job shadowing and it was a pretty crucial part of their job-search journey.”

Getting Carded

Designer: Sarah Smith ’26 of Severna Park, Md., and Janney Halperin ’26 of Meredith, N.H.

Models: Izzie Sandoz ’26 of Portland, Ore.

Signature Trash: Plastic cards (think Dunkin gift cards and metro cards)

What the Designers Say: �ֲ���ý recently did away with laundry machines that used plastic cards, and Smith put those old cards to good, collecting them for her Trashion outfit. She added old Dunkin gift cards to create the top; then made the skirt out of plastic bags complete with tiered pleats. She added ribbons from �ֲ���ý events to elevate her gown.

“I already save and recycle packing material anyway,” said Smith, who is an EcoRep. “Honestly, I wanted to see how many discarded items I could put to use in a cool way. I enjoyed the whole process.”

Stitcher’s Swan Song

Designer: Grace Acton ’24 of Harvard, Mass.  

Models: Adelle Welch ’25 of Livingston, Mont.

Signature Use of Trash: Plastic shopping bags and shipping materials

What the Designers Say: Acton is doing her senior thesis on historic dresses, so she used that research to help inform her Trashion entry.

She copied the dress design called “Swan” created by Charles James, a mid-20th century designer known for unique gowns sought after by the rich and famous. Acton used Target bags and stitched them into a flowing gown, calling her collection of recycled materials this year “the culmination of my Trashion Shows.” 

“It’s a ball gown that’s really sculptural. I started working on it in earnest last week but I’ve had the idea in mind for longer,” Acton said. 

There Will Be Blood

Designer: John Campana ’26 of Plymouth, Mich.

Model: Hannah Kothari ’26 of Houston 

Signature Trash: Newspapers

What the Designers Say: Campana was taught to use a sewing machine by his grandmother, is a voracious reader of Vogue magazine, and a big fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race. So it was only a matter of time before Campana jumped into Trashion. When he finally did this fall, he put blood (literally), sweat, and tears into his project.

While creating his Christian Dior–inspired gown, Campana cut his arm while using an X-Acto knife. It’s nothing a trip to Central Maine Medical Center and six stitches in his forearm couldn’t fix. 

For his model, Campana had a ringer: Hannah Kothari, aka Miss Gulf Coast Teen. As a former pageant contender in Texas (a state that likes their pageants), Kothari knew how to present Campana’s long, strapless floral newspaper dress in stunning fashion. 

“I’ve never seen her do a walk before, so I’m excited to see it happen, her doing the runway, a little Cindy Crawford,” said Campana, who danced from the gym floor as Kothari strode slowly up and down the runway. 

A Family Affair 

Designer: The class of “Family Stories,” a First-Year Seminar taught by Kirk Read, professor of French and francophone studies 

Models: Julia Anderson ’27 of Chevy Chase, Md., and Simon Wilson ’27 of Missoula, Mont.

Signature Trash: Lewiston Sun Journal newspapers and a tattered copy of Monica Woods’ book When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir From Mexico, Maine

What the Designers Say: After the Lewiston tragedy of Oct. 25 altered the semester in unimaginable ways, Read wanted to bring some spontaneous community bonding into his classroom. So he suggested they enter the show as a class. 

Collectively they decided to make a garment using pages from an old, tattered copy of a novel they had read for class, Monica Woods’ When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir From Mexico, Maine, a story about profound sadness as well as how families and neighbors can pull together.

The 16 students in the class also fashioned recycled paper into paper airplanes that represented how the class was made up of students from around the world who all came together at �ֲ���ý. 

“It’s one big journey. We’re all intertwined. It’s one big family here,” Anderson said.  

Trash Can-Do Attitude

Designer: Cheryl Lacey, director of Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events

Model: Christine Schwartz, associate vice president for Dining, Conferences & Campus Events

Signature Trash: Polyester trash can cover

What the Designer Says: Lacey and Schwartz, who started the Trashion Show tradition in 2000, featured in their entry a new piece of recyclable material: trash can covers.

The new polyester covers recently replaced the plastic disposable trash can covers, helping to eliminate waste. The new covers come in black, red, and blue. Schwartz wore a black cover as a dress, topped by a knitted top made of recycled materials. 

“It can be a dress, it can be a bubble dress, it can be a skirt. From trash to fashion, you decide which way you use it. The possibilities are endless,” Schwartz joked.

Lacey quipped that more household items like the trash can covers could be repurposed for fashion.

“In reality, decomposing clothes in the landfill creates greenhouse gas emissions. So we’re taking an item that’s meant to be used in different ways and bringing it to the fashion runway,” she said.

It’s the big �ֲ���ý fashion event of the year — the 16th annual opportunity for students to wear literal trash and strut down the catwalk while their classmates, faculty, and staff cheer them on.

The outfits at this year’s Trashion Show took inspiration from everything from the wild West to Marie Antoinette.

The student EcoReps put on the show in collaboration with �ֲ���ý Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events. The goal is to bring awareness to the amount and variety of trash the campus produces and thus promote campus-wide sustainability efforts.

Grace Acton ’24 of Harvard, Mass., is a stitcher for the �ֲ���ý theater costume shop, so she knows her way around fabrics. So after waterproofing her leaking car doors with plastic sheeting (the weatherstripping had given way), she knew just what to do with the leftover “fabric.”

“I love historical fashion and I knew I wanted to do something historical-inspired for this show and I thought, ‘Oh, sheer fabric: Marie Antoinette!”

For a couple reasons, including COVID, Acton hasn’t had the chance to have her design on the runway until this year. 

“It was so special to finally get to do it. I had seen it before I even had done it my first freshman year. I watched the videos, I looked through the slideshows from previous years and I was like, this is the coolest event. So it’s so exciting to be back.”

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” as the proverb goes, and students took it to heart — and to the runway — during �ֲ���ý’ 16th annual Trashion Show, and the first in-person edition since 2019. From Rococo royalty to cowgirl chic, students showed that trash “c����”, as they blended creativity with sustainability and delivered this year’s hottest trashions.

To set the stage: It’s Nov. 16, the beginning of the holiday season at �ֲ���ý. Outside Commons, horses’ hooves clip-clop on the pavement, the air’s cold enough to make you blink, and light glows from Commons windows; inside, students, staff, faculty, family, and friends are enjoying the Harvest Dinner. 

Not far away, music booms from the Gray Athletic Building. Inside, behind those thumping speakers and black curtained stage, student designers are putting the final touches on their recycled creations and praying nothing falls off during the model’s turn on the catwalk. Time is ticking, and in true academic fashion, the last few moments are the busiest.

The Trashion Show is produced by the student EcoReps, and for EcoRep Aneeza Ahmad ’25 of Sharon, Mass., it’s a chance for students to have some fun, not take themselves “too seriously,” and experience the spotlight, all while hearing some important messages about recycling and sustainability.

The event highlights the amount and variety of trash �ֲ���ý produces. As the students get hands-on with what they throw away — and the audience sees it all — Tom Twist, �ֲ���ý’ sustainability manager, hopes they think a little more about the myriad ways they can reduce, reuse, and recycle.

The pandemic did a number on , as single-use and disposable products and packaging increased. All that trash “really played havoc with our system,” says Twist, and the lull in habitual recycling took a toll on �ֲ���ý’ waste management system, and on students’ habits. 

Pre-pandemic, the �ֲ���ý recycling rate was around 30 percent, and now, it’s around 15 percent. “Most students want to do the right thing, they just aren’t sure of the details,” says Twist. The plan is to “get good recycling back on the radar, and build good habits.”

And what better way to impress those habits on students than through a little music, good food, and a great show? Here are some of our favorites from this year’s Trashion Show:

Rococo on the Runway

Above, 18th-century Rococo fashion is reimagined in the age of plastic as Bora Lugunda ’25 of Kinshasa, Congo, models the second-place winning “Marie Antoinette en Plastique,” a billowy chemise gown made from trash bags and plastic sheeting, and a “bergère” hat made from cardboard and brown packing paper, designed by Grace Acton ’24 of Harvard, Mass.

Acton took inspiration from Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun’s infamous 1783 portrait of the French royal, and reminded the audience that “in Marie Antoinette’s day, the overconsumption of rapidly changing fashion was limited to the extremely wealthy — let our design be a reminder to not let fast fashion make you lose your head!”

The Future is Now

Wearing a “puffy jacket-inspired” outfit and accessories made from discarded bubble wrap, chip bags, coupons, a mesh orange bag, and straws, Lily Ritch ’25 of Cincinnati models a design by Emma Righter ’23 of Clearwater, Fla., and Ella Lungstrum ’23 of Brooklyn, N.Y.

They sewed and fused the plastics together as a patchwork, and used metallic touches to evoke a “futuristic” theme and their commitment to sustainability and “sporting sick ’fits.'”

Coming to a Bookstore Near You

This year’s first-place winner had a height advantage: Miguel Pacheco ’24 of San José, Costa Rica, traded the stage for stilts, wearing a sweeping two-piece outfit, crown, and handbag made of recycled book covers, created by Sloan Phillips ’25 of Evergreen, Colo.

Phillips collected the dust jackets throughout the semester while working at the library, and with the help of a few friends, turned them into the winning ensemble.

Yee-Haw(t) Couture

Leen Dockery ’26 of Rye, N.Y., wears a self-created, cowgirl-inspired outfit made from discarded cardboard from Parker Hall’s fourth-floor recycling bin. The two-piece outfit came with a hobby horse-esque bucking bronco, boots, and a classic cowgirl hat (seen tossed to the floor) also made from cardboard.

Everything But the Pool

Representing the �ֲ���ý swimming and diving team, Quinn Macauley ’24 of Wilmington, Del., wears a “mermaid-inspired” outfit made from trash and discarded swim gear collected from Tarbell Pool, designed by Talia Skaistis ’25 of New York City, and Lianna Rosman ’26 of Bethesda, Md. Close inspection will reveal segments of an old lane line, pieces of a pull buoy, a dissected swim parachute, and several snorkels.

Take a Sip, Babes

Winning third place, Claire Barlass ’25 of Duluth, Minn., wore a self-designed “milk dress” made from discarded milk cartons from Commons, an outfit that served double-duty as her Halloween costume this year while showing the true spirit of “reduce, reuse, recycle.”

Barlass added a choker made from bottle caps and shoes made from bubble wrap to complete the catwalk-ready creation.

Snacks on Snacks on Snacks

In a munchies-inducing outfit, Henry Welch ’25 of Istanbul, Turkey, wears a “chic, yet delicious” outfit made of snack and candy bags, and shoes made from Goldfish cracker boxes, created by Welch, Ben Huston ’25 of Vergennes, Vt., and Jonah Yaffe ’26 of Dallas.

When it comes to the Trashion Show, it’s better to ask “what you can make with the trash, rather than what the trash can make for you,” says Danielle Meng ’20 of Beijing.

That approach paid off for Meng. The outfit she designed for model Claire Deplanck ’20 of Kuala Lumpur won first prize in the annual show, in which students make runway-ready outfits out of campus trash.

The Trashion Show, organized by student EcoReps and held in the Gray Athletic Building on Nov. 20 during the pre-Thanksgiving Harvest Dinner, highlights the amount and variety of waste the campus produces.

Not that you can necessarily tell that the outfits are trash-couture. Before and after the show, models and designers happily posed for portraits by �ֲ���ý photographer Theophil Syslo and shared the creativity and philosophy behind their creations.

That’s a Wrap

Designer: Danielle Meng ’20 of Beijing

Model: Claire Deplanck ’20 of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Signature Trash: Bubble wrap, trash bags, and sourdough packaging from Commons

Assembly Time: About five hours

Creative Use of Trash: Tiara made from packing peanuts

The Designer Says: “I personally do a lot of online shopping and buy a lot of stuff, and I feel bad about the packaging and the cardboard and the tape and everything I waste. I feel like that definitely could be improved.”

P.S. “Use Amazon’s Delivery Day option!”

Extra, Extra!

Elise Lambert ’22 of Amherst, N.H.

Designer: Women’s track and field team

Model: Elise Lambert ’22 of Amherst, N.H.

Signature Trash: Back issues of The �ֲ���ý Student, and tape

Assembly Time: About 10 minutes, on the day of the show

The Designer Says: ”Anything can be repurposed,” says co-designer Olivia LaMarche ’20 of Lynnfield, Mass. “Sometimes it’s worth saving things.”

Suited to a Tea

Sukanya Shukla ’20 of Dehradun, India.

Designer: Anne Trapp ’20 of Brunswick, Maine

Model: Sukanya Shukla ’20 of Dehradun, India

Signature Trash: Scrap muslin, lids of San Pellegrino drinks, chip bags, and candy wrappers

Assembly Time: 15 hours

Creative Use of Trash: Skirt made of teabag envelopes, partly from Commons and partly from the Olin Arts Center costume shop’s 2:30 p.m. tea-times.

Proceed with Caution

Designer: Hannah Webster ’22 of Shelburne, Vt.

Model: Max Freund ’22 of Newfields, N.H.

Signature Trash: Empty boxes of Mike’s Twisted Tea, caution tape, and a discarded necklace

Creative Use of Trash: Yellow caution tape collected after Back to �ֲ���ý Weekend  

The Designer Says: “Sort your recyclables and your trash!”

Layers & Layers

Ilze Smidt ’21 of Gibsonia, Pa.

Designer: Jade Zhang ’21 of Hefei, China

Model: Ilze Smidt ’21 of Gibsonia, Pa.

Signature Trash: Leftover fabric, yarn, and ribbons

Assembly Time: About four hours

Creative Use of Trash: Layers of tissue paper in the skirt, collected from packaging over the course of a month

The Designer Says: “Tissue paper is super wasteful. If you buy two items, they give you so many of those tissue papers. It’s not necessary.”

Flower Power

Sandia Taban ’22 of Changsu, China.

Designers: Yueh Qi Chuah ’22 of Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, and Ahimy Soto-Garcia ’21 of Trenton, N.J.

Model: Sandia Taban ’22 of Changsu, China

Signature Trash: Felts, beads, and chip bags

Assembly Time: About 10 hours

Creative Use of Trash: Flowers made of plastic bags from Wal-Mart

The Designer Says: “Bring reusable bags for shopping,” says Chuah. ”A lot of plastic bags are being shipped to other countries — cough cough, Malaysia, cough cough.”

Trash & Tiaras

Eden Rickolt ’20 of Landenberg, Pa.

Designers: Madison Liistro ’20 of Farmington, Conn., and Maya Wilson ’20 of Toronto

Model: Eden Rickolt ’20 of Landenberg, Pa.

Signature Trash: Various treasures from the Smith Hall trash cans

Assembly Time: A few hours

Creative Use of Trash: A wig that was thrown out after Halloween

The Designer Says: ”Anybody can be Miss Universe if they try hard enough — or Miss Gray Cage.”

Very In-Tents

Model and Designer: Talia Sperduto ’21 of Canterbury, N.H.

Signature Trash: Discarded Outing Club tents

Assembly Time: 100-plus hours

The Designer Says: “We talk about trash as the plastic bottles that we use and the plastic that we get in Commons, but we forget about textile waste.”

Regal Attire

Essie Martin ’21 of Newcastle, Maine.

Designer: The EcoReps, the �ֲ���ý student organization that promotes environmentally responsible behavior on campus.

Model: Essie Martin ’21 of Newcastle, Maine

Signature Trash: Various packaging ”donated” by Commons

Assembly Time: 20 minutes

Creative Use of Trash: Bubble-wrap cape

The Designer Says: ”The amount of trash that Commons goes through in order to feed all of us is tremendous, and the amount of waste that we produce on top of that is a lot,” says co-designer Elly Beckerman ’22 of Washington, D.C.

For Essie Martin ’21, modeling a dress made from trash at the 13th annual Trashion Show was a win-win proposition.

“It’s fun, and it raises awareness about waste,” she says.

Martin’s outfit was made from discarded plastic and accessorized with plastic straws once sipped by �ֲ���ý students and by customers of Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks. “We collected the straws from trash bins for months,” she says.

For the prospective geology major from Newcastle, Maine, walking the runway matched her personal style. “It’s a fun way to be yourself on a stage. And since you’re wearing trash, it’s gonna be ridiculous no matter what you do!”

Photographs of the 2018 Trashion Show by Theophil Syslo.

Sophia Ball '21, Cassidy Martin '19, and Olivia McCulloch '21 prepare backstage before Martin walks the Trashion Show runway. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ���ý College)

Backstage, Essie Martin '21 of Newscastle, Maine, adjusts a hair ornament made of plastic straws. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ���ý College)

A moment from the Trashion Show on Nov. 14, 2018.

Outfit designer Michael Somkuti '19 of Ambler, Pa., and model T.J. Emmerman '21 of New York City walk the runway at the end of the Trashion Show. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ���ý College)

A moment from the Trashion Show on Nov. 14, 2018.

The annual Trashion Show is produced by the student EcoReps and, like the prior 12 editions, this year’s was a “night of fun and ridiculousness and lovely outfits,” says Tom Twist, the college’s sustainability manager.

“But the underlying thing is, of course, the message: We’re still wasting a lot, and we want to increase awareness of that and of all the things �ֲ���ý is doing to be more sustainable.”

One of those EcoReps is Liv McCulloch ’21, an economics major from Sunderland, Mass. “Last year I just watched the show. This year, I wanted to get involved, and get my friends involved,” she says.

So McCulloch teamed up with Sophia Ball ’21, a psychology major from New Hope, Pa., to design a Wizard of Oz-themed outfit made from discarded Halloween costumes modeled by Cassidy Martin ’19, a European studies major from Wilmington, Del.

“People buy things on Halloween that they use once and throw away,” says Ball. “That was our inspiration.”

“Which means there were 35,000 of these disposable thunder stick noisemakers. Who knows what happened to them afterwards?”

For designer Michael Somkuti ’19, a mathematics major from Ambler, Pa., an interest in pro video gaming, or eSports, inspired his outfit.

Professional gaming “has been exploding in scale and viewership,” he says, pointing to a recent League of Legends World Championship event in South Korea that drew an audience of 17,000, who rocked the venue with inflatable noise makers throughout the competition.

“Which means there were 35,000 of these disposable thunder stick noisemakers,” he says. “Who knows what happened to them afterwards?”

Somkuti used similar sticks to make “a kind of jumpsuit” that was modeled by T.J. Emmerman ’21, a prospective politics major from New York City.

“One, it promotes an interest that I love,” says Somkuti. “And two, I hope that companies that promote eSports will think about their own environmental impact as they grow. Sustainability is important for corporations to keep in mind.”

Third, he adds, “I loved plastering the logo all over it because eSports are super in your face, so I wanted my outfit to be super in your face.”

Old paper cups, bubble wrap, cardboard, plastic bags, and packing peanuts appeared in all their recycled glory at the Trashion Show, the annual waste-couture extravaganza that shows �ֲ���ý students at their creative and sustainable best.

Students designed and modeled outfits made of trash and recyclables for the Nov. 15 show, held in the Gray Athletic Building after the Harvest Dinner. Presented by the EcoReps, �ֲ���ý’ student sustainability leaders, the Trashion Show puts waste — something normally seen as unsightly and gross — front and center.

“Waste is the dirty part of sustainability,” said Sarah Sachs ’18, who along with Olivia LaMarche ’20 made a dress out of water bottles and pizza boxes they found in the trash.

“It’s not something that people want to talk about, so if you’re able to approach it in a humorous way, it shows people how big of an issue this is on campus and in the wider world.”

In other words, she said, “It’s to get people to laugh but also to say, ‘Wow, that dress had a lot of pizza boxes on it. Maybe I should take away less pizza.‘”

The sustainability showcase, hosted by Dylan Thombs ’18 of Monmouth, Maine, and Matt Reback ’18 of Potomac, Md., was also a competition, with staff and alumni judges in place to pick the very best in haute trash.

Other outfits got their just recognition, too.

Kevin Tejada ’17 of Mount Kisco, N.Y.,  is the perennial winning designer at the annual Trashion Show.

A popular annual event featuring student-created outfits made from throwaway stuff, the Trashion Show “encapsulates what �ֲ���ý meant to me: discovery — an opportunity to get out of the academic bubble.”

Just when you figure that a student’s take on pop culture begins with Miley Cyrus and ends with Caitlyn Jenner, you hear from Kevin Tejada ’17.

A regular designer for the annual Trashion Show, Tejada, of Mount Kisco, N.Y., looked at his model, Elise Krims ’16 of Concord, Mass., on Wednesday night and quipped that “if Barbarella and Madonna had a child, this would be her.”

Held in the packed Gray Athletic Building, the ninth edition of the show once again featured wearable runway designs created by students from trash, recyclables, and junk. Kirk Read, professor of French and francophone studies, was the MC.

The event was presented by the college’s EcoReps, trained student leaders who work toward a more environmentally sustainable �ֲ���ý.

Backstage at the Trashion Show, designer Kevin Tejada '17 of Mount Kisco, N.Y., puts the finishing touches on "Phoenix Rising from the Trashes," modeled by Elise Krims '16 of Concord, Mass. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Marissa Bale '19 of Northford, Conn., makes headlines in an outfit created mostly of recycled newspapers (and lots of duct tape). Designed by the student Environmental Coalition, it reflected the decline of print news media. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Bale delivers with her newspaper-inspired outfit. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Hanna Chipman '17 of New York City models an ensemble, made primarily of materials recycled from Commons, whose bodice was a mosaic of tea bags. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Chipman shows off the nifty removable cape from Lisa Choi's design. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College).