The following is written by Aili Schiavoni, President of the Student Fashion Club:

Every year, the Framingham State Fashion Club puts on a Trashion Show, a design challenge competition that allows students to think creatively about garment designs using unconventional materials. In years past, designers have used non-textile materials such as garbage bags, newspapers, and even leaves in the name of both artistry and sustainability.

As the years go on, however, the artistry of this design challenge has begun to outweigh the upcycling aspects that are so important for our communities and environment. While garments were being created to higher and higher standards, it came at the cost of purchasing plastics and other non-biodegradable materials for garment construction that tended to be thrown away as soon as the competition was completed.

As the fashion industry moves forward, we must re-evaluate our own responsibility to sustainability in our design work. Fashion companies and designers have made great leaps in green initiatives, such as Cradle to Cradle fabric recycling and upcycling practices, in their own time. Now, it’s our responsibility as young designers to consider these projects and initiatives more seriously. This year, the Framingham State Fashion Club would like to join the fight for universally sustainable fashion with a new take on our annual Trashion Show: Reimagine Trashion.

As designers, we are no strangers to scrap material and fabrics that don’t quite make the cut anymore, such as in materials that may have been stained or torn before getting a chance to be a part of our designs. For this project, we are calling for all designers to take a good, hard look at what is in their personal fabric storage. What do you have that you will never use? Do you have a quarter-yard remnant with awkward cuts that you can’t manage to fit into a design? Fabric that may have been sun-damaged by sitting out? Perhaps even a wayward water stain that has taken it off your work table.

We are collecting donations of unwanted/ damaged fabric to give our competitors a chance to truly reimagine what can be done with “ugly” materials. Old home textiles, such as curtains and tablecloths, give our designers a chance to work with larger, unbroken pieces of fabric, but the true goal is to make use of any material that might have otherwise gone to waste.

Participants of this design competition are required to keep every scrap of fabric, whether it is the selvedge they cut their pattern pieces from or fabric that didn’t go into the construction of the garment itself. On December 3rd, 2025, the designers will present their garments to a panel of judges, and while the construction and quality of the design will be judged, so will their waste.

FSU Fashion Club is committed to doing our part to promote green initiatives and challenge our students to think more critically about what role they play in the sustainability of the fashion industry. We hope to continue this project in the years to come and build a culture here at FSU where designs are, first and foremost, created with not just the desires of the designer, but with the goal of a cleaner and greener future for us all.

Pictured Members of the Fashion Club (from left): Emily Crossin (Publicity Chair) , Emma Claire Vanderslice (Vice President), Aili Schiavoni (President), Zara Nazaire (Treasurer), Janae Johnson (Secretary).