Not Trash

Haute Trash History



Dress made out of photo negatives by Kelsey Callahan
for Haute Trash 2014 at UCM

Haute Trash was started by a women named Susan Lamela in 1983. She had the idea to make clothing out of what would be considered "trash" when she was repairing a suit.. The first Haute Trash fashion show was in Nevada, California and was called "The Cutting Edge of Fashion".  It had 21 outfits made from aluminum, trash bags and plastic wrap with duck tape. Three years later two new designers came Mary X (Mary Welch) and Mr. Perception (Cyrstal Fivenson) for the "Outer Wear for the Inner You" show. They picked the date 8/8/88 for their next show and called it "Hot Trash". September of 1990 was the best year for trash fashion and the name "Haute Trash" was coined with the "Haute Trash-Objet Trouve Fashions". Haute Trash worked with many non-profit, recycling and environmental organizations and had hundreds of shows throughout the Hawaiian Islands between1991 and 2000. After the founder Susan Lamela died in June 2000 Prima Debris wanted a Haute Trash comeback. So in 2001 ater joining Rayona at the Oregon Country Fair, Prima came back to Cali to start trash again. In 2006 they officially became NonProfit and started developing education programs.

Haute Trash at UCM

Jasmine Thomas in a skirt made of two broken umbrellas

UCM 365 Earth Day week holds lots of different events, one of them being Haute Trash. It is something that UCM has done for 5 years now. Donna Bodenhamer has been bringing Haute Trash to UCM as a part of Earth Week. Melissa Abner a professor at UCM in the fashion program has been involved in Haute Trash. Abner teaches Sustainability of Consumer Products, which teaches about how to green up your wardrobe among other things.
This year I was able to work backstage at Haute Trash and it was a very good experience. Everyone involved really wants to be there to support this great organization. The models are people that come back year to year with new "Trash" clothing that they have made. The people involved get really excited to show everyone what they have made. Helping these people out was really fun and exciting. I can see why people come back year to year to help out with this show and I think its a very great thing to be apart of.

Our Show 2014

Dress made out of Pepsi plastic

Dress made out of fax flowers

The show this year was full of really creative clothing ideas. There were many talented people who worked on and participated in the show. Some examples of what the outfits were made out of are a dress made out of ties sewn together Pepsi plastic, a red old purse made into a shirt and skirt, a dress made out of fax flowers, a dress made out of a store sign banner and many more. Also there were many booths set up for by charity's and eco-friendly businesses in the area. Examples are The Change Jar, Johnson County Sheltered Workshop, Greener living ideas, hand made jewelry, collage art and a booth for wedding dresses. Over all this years show was very successful and everyone put in hard work. I think every year is going to get better and better.

Ways to live greener booth

The Change Jar booth

By,
Keri Landes