Fashion exhibit in Edmonton made from upcycled materials

Young designers from the Edmonton area are turning old clothes into new fashion creations.

It’s fashionable to reduce waste, that’s the lesson behind the Innovative Upcycled Fashion exhibit at city hall.

The exhibit showcases five outfits, plus accessories, made by high school students during the Edmonton Reuse Centre’s Sustainable Fashion Week workshop.

“We start by introducing them to the idea of textile waste and showing them the problems with it,” said Michelle Closs, the workshop design leader.

As part of the workshop, 16 students were split into teams and taken to the thrift store to find items they would then turn into new fashionable pieces.

“Then at the end of the week, we had a fashion show where they walked a runway in front of a panel of judges,” Closs said. “They were judged on things like zero waste…best teamwork, best creative design, most inspirational piece, different things like that.

“The message here is to inspire us to not be limited by what we see. Taking something that already exists and turning it into something new and useful and extending the life of that item as many times as possible.”

Textile waste is the second-largest polluting industry in the world, according to Closs.

“There is enough textiles that already currently exist that if we stopped buying clothes today, that we would have enough clothes to last the next seven generations,” Closs said. “A lot of people think that going to second-hand (stores) and buying second hand is really what’s going to save us, and, unfortunately, what really is going to save us is if we stop making new (clothes).”

The Reuse Centre isn’t just about haute couture and textile waste, it’s about keeping any number of things that can be reused out of landfills.

“People think that they’re garbage, but they’re still useful in other ways, like bread bag tags, milk jug lids,” said Liane Little, with the Reuse Centre.

Arts and crafts supplies, home decor, office supplies and packaging material are just some of the other items accepted at the centre.

More information on the Reuse Centre is available online.

There is also an Earth Day Expo at the centre at 6835 83 St. NW on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The expo features local vendors with unique gifts for sale.

The clothes will be on display at city hall between April 14 and 27.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Dave Mitchell