Trashion Fashion

It is sad, but the fashion industry is a big polluter of our environment. We don’t want to add to the problem, so we encourage using fabric remnants, thrifted clothing, and upcycled items in our runway pieces. For this project we are going to the reduce, reuse, recycle fashion extreme. Students are going to design and create fashion tech pieces from materials that would normally be thrown away. This piece could be an accessory, footwear, jewelry, or a full outfit.

Put fashion tech skills into a runway-ready piece that tells a personal story but also a story about Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Materials

• Anything that can be reused: plastic grocery bags, trash bags, plastic bottles, wrappers, foil, cardboard, newspaper, scratch paper, paper bags, old t-shirts, toy parts, etc.
• Cutting tools: scissors, clippers, exacto knives, or cardboard cutters may be needed
• Adhesives: hot glue, glue, tape, sticky tack, or connectors like staples, string, rubber bands, or fusing plastic
• Lights: copper tape/LEDs, touch circuit fairy lights, or even just a battery and LED

Teacher note: Remind designers that many of these materials are great light diffusers! Along with the elements of fashion, they should take advantage of diffusion properties in their pieces to tell their story.

Process

1. What story do you want to tell about recycling? Why is it important to you? Write it down.
2. Use croquis to make several sketches. Use Design Notes to help ideate.
3. Integrate a circuit to elevate the story with lights.
4. Gather materials from around the house that would normally be thrown away. Do any of these materials give you more ideas?
5. Decide on the design to construct.
6. Start making, adjusting, redoing and persisting as needed, until your piece becomes what you envisioned!
7. Celebrate and show it off!

Students can move through a six-step design process to create a full story before beginning their project. This changes the process from a “how to put lights on clothes” technical project into a “how to share a story through fashion and electronics.”

Student Examples

Victoria: “For my first trashion piece I decided to go with a purse. I was able to design and construct it quickly, so I decided to do another.”

Ellington: “I wear glasses so stylish frames are important to me. I have a jar full of pop tops so I decided to use them to make these fashion trashion shades!”

Rebeca: “I love color and newspaper ads are very colorful, so my mom helped me make a dress from nothing but ads and scotch tape. It is hard to see but my fairy light touch circuit goes around the waist and a simple circuit is on the flower.”

Jaydin: “Sheriff Boxy wants to bring law and order to Tucson! He is made mostly out of cardboard boxes, but there are other trash items also. A paperclip switch completes the circuit to make the LED light up.”