The Trashion Show was a popular event with designers, who made creative use of repurposed items, and spectators alike.
After absence, event is back on the runway
Ten years ago, The Confluence: Art in Twisp (then Confluence Gallery) hosted a small but lively runway show consisting of local models strutting down an ad hoc catwalk in the gallery wearing creations crafted from items plucked from dumpsters and recycling bins. A few years later that show had evolved into one of the most popular annual events in the Methow Valley: the Trashion Show.
Now, after a COVID hiatus from 2020-2022, the Trashion Show is back, and “we are all so enthusiastic about it,” said Betsy Fetherston, executive director of The Confluence: Art in Twisp.
Scheduled for June 3 at the Methow Valley Community Center in Twisp, the Trashion Show is a well-loved opportunity for denizens of design to exercise their creative chops, for runway favorites to swagger, sashay, and slink down the elevated aisle, and for audiences to delight in the spectacle of the marriage of fashion and discarded items, Methow-style.
Fetherston, who is relatively new in her role at The Confluence, said that she and the Trashion Show committee have “a lot of support and good notes” that will help them present the show. “There is also so much community involvement,” she said. “A lot of people have worked hard on this show in the past. We’re excited to pull it back together.”
Designer deadline
Notice of an intent to submit a design is due by April 22, but organizers would like to know as soon as possible. Please note this is not for a finished product, but for your intent paperwork and design fee. For more information, check www.confluence.org.
‘Flower Power’
This year’s Trashion Show has a theme, Fetherston said: “Flower Power.” Designers can adapt that theme however they wish — mod, whimsical, vintage, literal — and are encouraged to use recycled or bona fide trash materials to make up 90% of the fashion items they create.
“Flower Power is a nod to our efforts to make every aspect of the event focused on recycling,” Fetherston said. “The decorations will be recycled; food — available at a food truck on-site — will be served in a basket; and drinks will come in reusable metal cups.”
Fetherston said that if guests have Trashion Show metal cups purchased in previous years, they should bring them to this year’s event and reuse them.
Details
Emceed by former executive director of The Merc Playhouse Missy Smith, the Trashion Show opens for a VIP reception at 5 p.m., followed by a general admission opening at 6 p.m. The VIP reception allows those who purchased reserved seating to enter early, get settled, and enjoy a drink and food before the main crush arrives.
Pre-show entertainment includes a slideshow of previous Trashion Shows, featuring entries and winners from the past decade of recycled fashion. The design showcase itself begins at 7 p.m. with an opening act, followed by the pièce de résistance.
Blue Star Coffee Roasters is the headline sponsor of the event, but Fetherston hopes that all past sponsors will consider supporting the Trashion Show again this year.
General admission tickets for the adults-only Trashion Show go on sale April 20; VIP tickets will be available April 10. General admission ticket prices are the same as they were the last time the Trashion Show was held, in 2019: $20. Ages 21 and over only. For more information, visit www.confluencegallery.org or call (509) 997-2787.
