SUSTAINABILITY IN STYLE: Trash’n Fash’n returns with fantasy, sustainability, and student leadership at the center
- Sewit Mesfen
- Jun 11
- 4 min read
For Lane Tompkins and Marley Mitchell, Trash’n Fash’n started with a simple question repeated over school announcements: “Do you like trash? Do you like fashion?”
The student-led event, originally created by students at Isaac Bear Early College High School in partnership with the Plastic Ocean Project, has since grown into one of Wilmington’s most creative sustainability-centered showcases. Founded by Rose Kurian and Mariana Hernández, Trash’n Fash’n combines wearable art, environmental awareness, and community collaboration through a runway show built entirely around recycled and discarded materials. Now, Tompkins and Mitchell are the recent graduates helping carry the tradition forward.
Hosted alongside Plastic Ocean Project, a Wilmington-based nonprofit focused on combating plastic pollution through education, research, and outreach, Trash’n Fash’n encourages designers to rethink waste by transforming everyday discarded materials into fashion. This year’s theme leans into fantasy, promising a show filled with imaginative designs, live music, food trucks, and a celebration of creativity rooted in sustainability.
Tompkins and Mitchell first became involved as sophomores after learning about the event through former student organizers.
“We’re both kind of passionate about fashion and design and arts,” Mitchell said. “To be able to bring STEM into that and really think about the environmental impact of our consumer habits — I think that’s what intrigued us.”
What began as curiosity quickly turned into years of leadership, planning, and community outreach. Although Trash’n Fash’n is now a longstanding local event, the production itself remains largely student-led.
Tompkins and Mitchell said that for the past two years, the organizing team has consisted primarily of the two of them working alongside advisors from Plastic Ocean Project. Those advisors help with technical logistics, sponsorships, and outreach, while the students coordinate designers, ticket promotion, music, food vendors, and the overall experience of the show.
“It’s a huge project to take on,” Mitchell said. “But our number one priority is the success of Trash’n Fash’n and keeping it going and spreading our mission as far as we can.”
Part of what makes the event unique is its accessibility. Designers have ranged in age from 5 years old to 75, with participants using everything from recycled fabric and tablecloths to discarded medical packaging and single-use plastics.
“We try not to rank designs in our heads because everyone has different favorites,” Tompkins said. “What speaks to you speaks to you.”
The event’s environmental message remains central, but the organizers emphasized that the experience is meant to feel welcoming, casual, and creative rather than overly formal or lecture-driven.
“It’s not preachy,” Mitchell explained. “It’s more of a celebration of what people can make.”
It's a stark contrast to the Plastic Ocean Project’s office space where I am conducting the interview. Dismal posters look over us titled,micro plastics in Estuaries and Assessing Marine Debris through Stormwater Regulation in Wilmington, NC. While we talk, technicians are in the lab testing polluted waters. Presiding over the room is "Running Out of Time," a plastic-covered mannequin sculpture and part of founder Bonnie Monteleone's traveling art exhibit—though during our conversation, we had taken to calling her the Trashy Lady.
That's why, according to Thompkins and Mitchell, it is important this show is engaging and imaginative. That balance between entertainment and advocacy is part of why the organizers believe recycled fashion resonates so strongly with audiences in Wilmington. Living in a coastal community makes environmental issues difficult to ignore, especially when it comes to plastic waste and ocean pollution.
At the same time, Trash’n Fash’n continues to evolve each year. While traditions remain, every student organizing team brings new themes, updated judging structures, and fresh creative direction.
“We don’t want to have the same show again and again,” Mitchell said. “We’re always trying to make things more engaging and exciting.”
Even after years of involvement, both organizers say they remain amazed by what participants are able to create from discarded materials.
“Working with trash is super difficult,” Mitchell said. “I’m always blown away by how people are able to form it into these crazy, intricate, beautiful outfits.”
She speaks from experience as she and Tompkins created their own outfits for the third trash and fashion show. "Fashion has always been a big passion," Tompkins said. Mitchell agreed, adding that even when creativity isn't her strong suit, witnessing it in others is its own reward. I am not surprised as both organizers are wearing outfits that are uniquely them and the fashionista in me cannot help but feel envious of Lane's choice of heart-shaped doily trimmed collar, nor Marley's effortless coordination.
For Tompkins and Mitchell, the event is ultimately about more than fashion. It’s about collaboration, creativity, and proving that sustainability can feel inspiring rather than limiting.
And as they prepare to pass the event on to future students—both heading to UNC Chapel Hill to pursue advocacy-related programs—they hope the next generation embraces both the challenge and the spirit behind it.
“As long as someone has the same values and mindset,” Mitchell said, “it’s pretty easy to carry that spirit forward.”
The choice of venue feels especially fitting in Wilmington, a city where old buildings are frequently given new life rather than being torn down. Perennial Harbor itself is an example of that philosophy. The space began as a laundromat built in 1948 before being transformed into a floral design studio and, more recently, a garden-centered community gathering space. Much like the designers of Trash'n Fash'n turn discarded materials into wearable art, Perennial Harbor represents the idea that what already exists can be reimagined into something beautiful, useful, and entirely new.
Enjoy this fashion event complete with food trucks and vendors at Perennial Harbor on Saturday, June 20 at 6 p.m. Tickets available at Givebutter.
