The Speaking Eagle
Juan Diego Students Participate in Eco-Friendly Fashion Show Thursday, May 24, 2012 By Madison Anderson
Students from many art classes at Juan Diego Catholic High School have designed and built recyclable pieces of clothing for a “Trashion Fashion” show. Sponsored by the Draper Mayor’s Youth Council, Draper residents were invited to construct their own articles of clothing entirely from recyclable materials, then walk the runway to raise awareness of the importance of recycling and promote making Earth-conscious decisions. “It’s an opportunity for us to be creative and bring awareness to recycling and how to reuse objects,” says Stefania Wilks, who proposed the idea and was the coordinator of the show. Wilks says she was inspired to organize this event after seeing something similar on a vacation. “They had a big artistic fashion show where they had taken stuff and were walking down the runway; I’ve wanted to do one out here for a while and this seemed like short notice, but I said let’s just give it a shot!” This year’s show was the first in Draper, but Wilks said they would love to do it better next year and continue to help it grow. “It’s just a fun way for the community to get involved and show off their creativity,” said Jenni Saville, one of the art teachers at JD who also had many of her students involved in the show. “I thought it would be a nice way to do a group project and have some fun at the end of the year,” said Saville. “It showed that you can be part of the community and still have fun. Not only was it a fun experience for our students to participate in but it also gave that awareness of how important it is to recycle.” Four JD students participated in the show, which was held at Draper Park on Saturday, May 12. Their designs captivated the audience and pleasantly surprised the coordinators with their innovative designs and unique styles. One group of JD students made a dress out of duct tape, old fabric, and plastic cups to form the bottom half while other groups used newspaper, cardboard, and other recyclable materials. “The project was a blast,” says freshman Jade McCoy who crafted an outfit for the show. “We got to be creative and show what we could make out of nothing!” The coordinators said they also had fun planning the event and seeing all of the clothing. “We were so excited that [JD] students came and participated and all the creativity they brought with them, the positive attitudes. We look forward to having them next year,” said Wilks. |