Turn trash into fashion at this year’s 5th annual Trashion Show

LEAVENWORTH — Registration is still open for competitors interested in entering the 5th annual Trashion Show at the Wenatchee River Institute (WRI) this spring.

In celebration of Earth week, the community fashion show will showcase wearable art made from recycled and repurposed materials on the ‘green carpet.’ Teams are encouraged to “think outside of the recycle bin,” turning discarded materials like paper, cardboard, and plastics into artistic, fashionable garments. The judges will award a winner from each category, with the audience voting on one overall People’s Choice winner.

This year’s trashion show has three categories of entry: adult (18 or older), youth (Kindergarten through 12th grade), and family. The organizers may split the youth category into two or more categories based on the number and ages of entrants. Each team can include up to six people, including the model, designers and creators. Participants are only allowed to be on one team.

Six spots are reserved for classrooms in the youth category, but independent teams can enter the category. Team members must be students between grades K-12, with no help from adults; students or teachers can be models. For the family category, the team can include adults and children, with a child as the model.

Last year, Wenatchee River Institute reported over 200 people in attendance, with 14 competing teams and five winners. The People’s Choice award went to ‘Toxic Teen’ modeled by Luci Pedack. Other winners included the adult category’s ‘When Singles Mingle’ modeled by Aria Knutson, high school category’s ‘Denim Again', youth category’s ‘Swag Trash,’ and family category’s ‘Kai, the Kool Pineapple Kid.’

Registration is open until April 9, or until spots are full. Participants can register their team at wenatcheeriverinstitute.org. The person registering will be the team leader and point of contact for the team. The cost to enter is a pay-what-you-can sliding scale. It is not required, but helps offsets the cost of staff time and supplies for the event, according to the organizer website.

The Trashion Show will be held on April 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the WRI River Haus Lawn. Audience members are encouraged to bring snacks, a picnic blanket, or camp chair for viewing. The event will have some chairs available, as well as beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages for sale.

The Trashion Show is a free event organized in partnership with WRI, Sustainable NCW, Eastside Rebuild, and additional volunteers.