FOR ITS 11th YEAR, TRASH THE RUNWAY® RECYCLED COUTURE IS GOING VIRTUAL
Trash the Runway®, traditionally a sold-out live runway show competition, is going online! Tune in on June 30TH at 7 pm MST on Boulder8TV or at fundraisingeverywhere.com/trashtherunway for TTR virtual, which will deliver the haute-est recycled couture yet.
BOULDER, COLORADO – Every Spring, for the past ten years, young designers from around the Denver Metro Area have worked tirelessly to create stunning couture for the Trash the Runway® (TTR) fashion show and competition. There is always a range of fashion from sweeping evening gowns to whimsical leisure attire. The presentation is stunning, the young designers who attend local middle and high schools are poised perfection, and the designs themselves are made entirely of recycled and found materials. Evening gowns have been made from materials like old trampoline mats and pantsuits from discarded exercise bands. One winning garment from last year’s competition was painstakingly made from thousands of gum wrappers.
The 11th annual TTR show was scheduled to happen on March 17, 2020 at Macky Auditorium on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder, Colorado. Over 1,000 tickets had been sold and the excitement was percolating, but like so many other events, TTR was canceled due to Covid-19. However, recognizing that these young people had worked so hard and already lost so much, show and community organizers mobilized to ensure that the show would go on! And so it is that TTR will be coming to a screen near you! Tune in on your device of choice on June 30, 2020 at 7:00pm MST for TTR virtual, which will deliver the hottest and the haute-est recycled couture yet.
The Creative Lab at Common Threads in Boulder, which organizes and runs TTR, held the first recycled runway event in 2009 to a crowd of less than thirty at The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. Over the years, the event has had a huge impact on many of the designers’ lives. One contestant was diagnosed with dyslexia and came home from school feeling stupid and unappreciated. She started sewing classes at Common Threads, entered TTR, and everything changed. Her confidence blossomed and she began to see how truly talented she is. She’s been competing in the show ever since.
The show has also become an uplifting event that the entire community anticipates. In recent years, nearly a thousand tickets have sold out within hours and enthusiastic supporters line up hours before the show starts to be sure they are able to get great seats, or at least a good view, at the show. The anticipation not only stems from the stunning eco-friendly fashion and youthful energy of the show, but also from the support TTR has always given back to the community. For the past several years, TTR has donated all net profits from the show to Blue Sky Bridge and this year is no exception. Blue Sky Bridge is a local nonprofit whose mission is to provide safe communities, healing, and justice to end child abuse. This work has become more critical than ever during COVID-19 as the frequency and severity of child abuse has risen due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
The virtual show will be pre-recorded with a live voting component and an active donation link. Tune in on June 30TH at 7 pm MST at Boulder8TV or at fundraisingeverywhere.com/trashtherunway
Follow along @trashtherunway on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date as the excitement builds for what will certainly be one of the most fun and fashionable evenings during this unprecedented time.
About Common Threads and The Creative Lab
Founded in 2007 by Libby Alexander, Common Threads is a unique fashion marketplace where people come together to create, collect and consign. The Creative Lab in Boulder offers a range of classes from sewing basics to summer camps to the wildly popular Trash the Runway™. Libby teamed up with her sister Jennifer in 2011 to bring the Common Threads concept to Old S. Pearl St. in Denver. Together the two stores provide an eclectic mix of designer favorites such as Prada and Isabel Marant as well as fashion forward basics from stores like Anthropologie and J Crew to offer the modern shopper affordable and sustainable fashion. Learn more at: http://www.shopcommonthreads.com.