Amy Merli founded Trashion Fashion in 2010. This weekend will mark the fifth celebration of couture made from garbage. She likes everything about the annual event, but is particularly fond of what she calls “the wow.”
“There’s this amazement that comes from seeing these materials,” Merli said. “People don’t think that interesting art, that something other than garbage, could be made from this stuff. Those things are now being worn. It’s an experience of joy and wonder.”
The Hartford Trashion Fashion Show 2015, displaying 40 garments, will be held Sunday, April 19, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Hartford City Hall, 550 Main St. Admission to the all-ages event is $10. A 21-and-older “soiree” will follow, on Saturday, April 25, from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is $50. That night, highlights from the fashion show will be exhibited, as well as garments from previous years.
Merli, a dancer, founded Trashion Fashion to combine performing arts with environmentalism, with environmentalism first. “Everything in the show is 90 percent waste materials that otherwise would be in the waste stream,” she said. “It’s very important for the designers to really think about the way they collect the materials and what happens to the designs after the show. They can keep them, compost or recycle them, or they can sell them.”
But art is important, too, not just the fashion designing, but also dance. “Some models are ballerinas in point shoes and some are regular models. There are actual dance performances inside the fashion runway,” she said.
Merli hopes to inspire people to be more creative in how they deal with waste materials. “We can shape the world around us so that we are no longer getting rid orf everything because it’s no good to us, because it’s just waste,” she said. “We can change if we find uses for all these things.”
Attendees will receive pansy plants and eggshell seedlings, as well as “seed bombs” with wildflower seeds in them. “If you’re in an area where you wish there was more flowers, you can toss it there and do some ‘guerrilla gardening.’ “
People who love artworks created from recycled materials also can see “Art @ the Dump,” the annual exhibit of works made from garbage, on Saturday April 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Sand Shed at Cornwall Transfer Station on Route 4.
