INTERVIEW: We Talk To The Team Behind Trashion, A Student-Run Charity Fashion Show Featuring Clothes Made From Trash

Meet the inspiring team behind Trashion, Hong Kong’s only student-run charity fashion show featuring clothing designed by students from waste in order to raise awareness about recycling and upcycling. We chat to them about their mission, this year’s ocean theme, what people can do to fight against plastic and whether Hong Kong can become a model sustainable city.

What is Trashion?

Trashion is a completely student-run charity fashion, from the designers, and organisers to the models and performers, aiming to create a new dimension to recycling. Every year, we partner with an NGO (or in this year’s case, multiple) and donate all profits to them. With the goal of increasing sustainability in mind, all clothing showcased on Trashion runway is made out of trash by our very talented student designers.

How was Trashion founded?

Trashion began in 2014 as an after school sewing club, and was then passed down through each new generations of students. This ensures that the show continue growing and evolving with fresh ideas and perspectives every year. We can’t remember who actually started the show, but we’ve always had a focus on fostering sustainable fashion and a sustainable lifestyle. Last year, we were able to raise over HK$ 40,000 for ReDress and this year we hope to continue this legacy and raise even more money for a good cause.

Tell Us More About This Year’s Theme: Ride The Waves

This is actually our first year with a theme targeting a specific section of sustainability. We chose it because we realised that a giant issue in the fashion industry is the improper disposal of clothing items, especially those with beads, sequins, and plastics, all of which contributes to aquatic pollution. In order to maximise our impact, we decided to partner with Plastic Free Seas to help fund and raise awareness of their work – we also want to maintain a broader focus on sustainable fashion at the same time, so some of our profits will also be donated to ReDress.

Of All Eco IssuesTo Focus On, Why Fashion?

We believe that the fashion industry can be easily changed through more conscious consumer choices which can have beneficial ramifications for the environment. Through our show, we hope to inspire our audience members (and a wider Hong Kong society) to become more conscious consumers of not just the materials, quantity, or usage of fashion, but also a sustainable lifestyle in general – which is why we partner with sponsors that span all the way from makeup to clothing to F&B. In a fast-paced city like Hong Kong, fast fashion and excess consumption are large concerns, and we must do all we can to help combat this issue.

What Can People Do To Fight Against Plastic Pollution?

As consumers in the global economy, we have the unique ability to practice conscious consumerism. This means that we can easily use less plastic in our daily lives through, for example, bringing our own metal straws and reusable cups or even something as simple as bringing a reusable water bottle instead of purchasing a plastic bottle. We can start from small things, but what’s also important is being aware of our actions and willing to evaluate the impact of our choices.

Through these choices we make as consumers, we can help alter the fashion industry in Hong Kong. Although major change, inevitably, will need to come from producers of fast-fashion brands, we can still do our part as consumers and build demand for sustainable products and services.

Do You Think Hong Kong Can Become A Model Sustainable City?

We think that the first step for Hong Kong to become a more sustainable city is through raising awareness. Hong Kong’s community is more likely to take action if they’re educated about the impacts of their choices. Through our show, we hope to raise awareness and inspire the Hong Kong community to find new life in upcycled materials or second-hand clothes. Hong Kong’s culture does have a consumer culture focused on convenience, speed, and cheapness that will take some time to change, but with a lot of hard work and conscious efforts, we’re fully confident that Hong Kong can become a very sustainable city. That being said, whether we can become fully sustainable would depend on a really large mix of different factors and circumstances in the future.

Get your tickets to the Trashion show on Saturday June 1st 2019 HERE.

Photo courtesy of RTHK Trashion.