In a stunning display of creativity and environmental awareness, student designers turn discarded materials into fashion statements, Chen Xue reports.

The 7th Trash Fashion Show, held at New York University Shanghai last month, showcased costumes crafted by students using disposable waste. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

It's no ordinary dress. It's a creation fashioned from unconventional materials: the sweeping hemline is repurposed from a recycled tarp banner of a school lecture event; the upper section is made by the leftover fabric of a design student's project; decorative elements are made from food delivery bags, soda cans, and plastic bottles.

Yes, it's a dress made from what most people would call "trash".

We aimed to design a dress — though made from the trash found by the seaside — that highlights the beauty of the ocean.

Wang Kaidi, 18, a student at NYU Shanghai

This unique creation is just one of the 24 fashion items presented at this year's Trash Fashion Show, held last month at New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai). The creative minds behind this dress are Wang Kaidi, 18, and Yang Huiyi, 20, both first-year students at the university.

Yang explained that their inspiration came from a beach cleanup event in Shanghai's Chongming district.

"Seeing the shores covered in plastic bits made us realize how much the material consumption impacts the environment," she said.

According to Wang, the deep blue banner's folds symbolize waves of the vast ocean, while the glittery fabric of the upper body represents modern society. Together, these elements harmoniously convey the coexistence of nature and human society.

"We aimed to design a dress — though made from the trash found by the seaside — that highlights the beauty of the ocean," she said.

Initiated in 2017, the Trash Fashion Show has been an annual event and platform where students demonstrate their creative approaches to eco-friendliness.

Wang Kaidi, 18, a student at NYU Shanghai. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

This year's event brought together student designers from four different universities in Shanghai: NYU Shanghai, East China Normal University, Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts, and Shanghai Lida University.

Daniel Woc, a sophomore from Guatemala at NYU Shanghai, attended last year's show as part of the audience and found inspiration to showcase his own creativity. "Seeing all the wonderful and cool designs pushed me to be a designer this year," said the 19-year-old.

Woc collaborated with a friend to create four dresses representing the four elements of Western culture. Using delivery bags as their primary material, they skillfully mimicked the colors and textures symbolizing fire, water, earth, and air.

Seeing all the wonderful and cool designs pushed me to be a designer this year.

Daniel Woc, 19, a student from Guatemala at NYU Shanghai

Yu Sixian and Xu Yiwen, both freshmen at NYU Shanghai, crafted a dress from a mix of "trash": price tags from clothes, chains made from soda can rings, and butterfly figures made from foam sticks. Despite these seemingly disparate elements, their message was clear: "Butterflies and flowers blooming on iron soda can rings symbolize the delicate relationship between the natural environment and industrial civilization," Yu said.

As these artists conveyed their messages through their works, they also absorbed inspiration from their peers. Yang pointed out a dress made from stitched-together pieces of drafting paper. "Drafting paper is often discarded at the end of the semester," she noted. "The sight of stacked drafting paper left a lasting impression on me, as if the model was wearing an entire semester's worth of studying on her."

An interesting fact is that many designers do not major in fashion design. For example, Xu is a neuroscience major and Yang majors in social sciences. However, they have all found joy and inspiration in the artistry of costume design.

For instance, Wang admitted overlooking the practical aspect of how a garment could be worn and removed by a real person instead of a mannequin. She addressed this issue by adding straps to the dress for better adjustment on the model. Yu discovered that by ironing plastic bags, they can wrinkle up and create a seaweed-like texture, adding a unique and stylish element to their creation.

Daniel Woc, 19, a student from Guatemala at NYU Shanghai. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The influence of the show went beyond the runway, prompting lifestyle changes. "The Trash Fashion Show serves as a creative platform to raise environmental awareness among young people," said Poonyisa Chutichetpong, a 19-year-old student from Thailand and one of the event organizers. "Students are encouraged to reflect on their own perception of waste and consumption."

For Yu, the show triggered a realization about her extensive use of plastic bags in daily life, leading her to switch to cloth bags for grocery shopping. Woc also noted, "Participating in sustainable design has allowed me to visualize a second life for many of the things we consider as 'trash' and to be able to turn them into something unique and creative, like a wearable piece."

For Wang, participating in the show provided her with insights into recycling efforts exerted by young people from other countries. For example, her friend Caitlin McMahon, a student from the United States studying at NYU Shanghai, collected plastic bottles and soda cans as a daily hobby. In fact, some of the materials used in Wang's design were sourced from McMahon's "collections". Wang said she once recycled plastic bottles and cardboard boxes too when living with her parents, but abandoned the habit after moving to campus, considering it a practice too trivial to matter.

"Being in the show and seeing what Caitlin did made me realize how important those little daily habits are for the environment," she said.

This realization is also what Yang gained from the designing experience: although the changes seem small, they can still make a difference.

"We humans make tons of waste every day — takeout boxes, bubble tea cups, electronic waste. But in this garment we made, every stitch and every recycled piece is like a small effort to help take care of the environment," Yang said.

In the end, when people talk about events like the Trash Fashion Show, it's a good beginning. "I think the main contribution of the show is starting conversations about this problem and making it visible," said Marcela Godoy, an associate arts professor and undergraduate coordinator of Interactive Media Arts at NYU Shanghai. "It's important to show people solutions and things they can do to contribute to a more sustainable life."

Contact the writer at chenxue@i21st.cn