I am so excited to share that I submitted a design for the ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes’ fundraiser, “ReCouture“… and it was accepted!

ReCouture is an annual fashion show featuring designs made entirely from recycled materials. Last year’s show can be viewed on YouTube:

The 2020 show is on May 2, and I’ll be blogging my progress here with weekly posts on Thursdays.

I don’t want to share my sketch just yet, but I will share my mood board that I used to put together my proposal.

My design is focused on grocery store waste, especially the tension between non-biodegradable plastic waste (of which there is a LOT, even beyond shopping bags) and biodegradable food waste (of which there is also a LOT, which many people don’t even think about, perhaps because it is biodegradable), and the way these two categories of waste intermingle in our food system and in our wider ecological system.

The part I’m most excited (and admittedly nervous) about in my design is the material I’m using for my skirt– kombucha leather. Friends, I have officially become a kombucha farmer. I’ll share more about my process next week, but suffice it to say it involves brewing a LOT of kombucha, and growing a LOT of slimy SCOBYs. But it’s okay, it’s all in the name of art (and environmental awareness), and will hopefully turn into something like… this!

In addition to the kombucha leather skirt, I plan to create a train made of plastic bottles + produce bags, and a bodice made of coated (plasticized) cardboard cartons. Intrigued? Stay tuned for more, including a step-by-step of how I create my kombucha fabric!