Designers turn junk into eco-fashion

The skirt of Shannon Erwin’s gladiator-style outfit rustles when she walks. The discs look metallic, but they’re actually cutout spheres from discarded beverage cups.

Hundreds of the plastic cups went into Erwin’s runway ensemble, which she’ll model tonight at Kootenai Environmental Alliance’s third-annual Junk2Funk eco-fashion show in Coeur d’Alene.

About 30 artists are participating in the “trashion” event, which challenged them to create couture from castoffs. The fashion show is a fundraiser for the Coeur d’Alene based nonprofit.

“We wanted something edgy and fun to attract a younger crowd,” said Janet Torline, Kootenai Environmental Alliance’s board president.

Now in its third year, Junk2Funk also carries a more serious message about the sheer volume of items that Americans discard each day.

“Why throw something away if you could repurpose it?” asked Sharon Bosley, another one of the artists.

Erwin’s design was inspired by a mound of used plastic cups left over after a Coeur d’Alene Art Walk event. After hot-gluing them together, she spray painted the outfit black. The resulting design has a “Xena, Warrior Princess” look.

Erwin, who owns Art on the Alley, has designed outfits for Junk2Funk for three years. This is the first year for Bosley, who will model a punk-inspired minidress.

Since she and her husband, Chris, are avid mountain bikers, Bosley opted for recycled bicycle parts. She stitched together old inner tubes, which form the body of the dress. Old spokes became a clunky fringe for the skirt. Bosley used gear parts and a bike chain for ornamental trim.

Her husband was part of the creative effort as well, making a matching parasol from a metal bike rim.

Torline, who will emcee the fashion show, sewed a rain-proof dress from an old blue tarp. She drew on a retro, ’50s-era pattern.

“This is what people will wear when they’re forced to go Dumpster diving, when we’ve used up all our extractable resources,” Torline joked.