Festival Runway Fashion Show

The Festival of Arts held its 10th annual Festival Runway Fashion Show on August 19 and artists wowed audiences with their creativity and talent constructing outfits from reclaimed, reused or recycled materials. A panel of five judges chose the top looks in four categories and over 2,000 Festival visitors had the opportunity to cast their votes for “People’s Choice Award.”

The Festival Runway Fashion Show was hosted by actress KTTV FOX11’s Entertainment Reporter Amanda Salas. Selecting the winners were Radar Online Entertainment Editor Alexis Tereszcuk, OK! Magazine Associate Publisher Shelley Fariello, LACMA Curator of Costumes and Textiles Kaye Spilker, costume designer Alex Jaeger and film production designer Nelson Coates.

Amanda Salas
Fashion Show Host Amanda Salas, Entertainment Reporter from FOX11

Kirsten Whalen

WINNER: “Most Innovative Use of Materials” 

This project started when artist Kirsten Whalen replaced the screens in her home and she instantly knew the old screening would be her starting point.

As you know, window screens are used for keeping bugs and other critters out of your house, and what is it that draws them to your window…..light!  So her model, Erika, who is Kirsten’s daughter, is protected from the things that fly in the night by her dress of window screens.

Some of the other materials used in this ensemble are old light bulbs, wires, cords, conduit, sockets, plugs and other fittings – the discards from a local electrician and a few neighborhood home remodels.

The inspiration for the shape and look of the dress came from looking at the work of fashion designer Alexander McQueen and costume designer Colleen Atwood…. and the costumes of Game of Thrones.

Adam Neeley

WINNER: “Most Glamorous & Elegant ‘Red Carpet’ Worthy Creation” and “People’s Choice”

Quench your fashion thirst with Adam Neeley’s most dramatic and effervescent recycled creation yet: “Acqua”!

Tiny bubbles, dancing in a glass of La Croix sparkling water, inspired this red carpet glamazon gown.

It has taken Adam and friends 2 years to consume more than 300 cans of La Croix water. The gown displays a vivid metallic spectrum of Lemon Yellow, Lime Green, Cranberry Pink, and Natural Blue in a bubbling motif.

Adam used his jewelry-making tools to cut cans into colorful sheets. He then shaped them into thousands of bubble-shaped domes and attached them like pave set gems, one by one in a swirling array of colors.

Sparkling with more than 3,000 individual aluminum domes, “Acqua” is a moving masterpiece of fizzing refreshment.

Richard Bohn

Artist Richard Bohn titled his creation “Healthcare Life Jacket.” The Medicare Donut Hole” is a term that is used to describe the financial hole that one experiences or “falls into” after they have used up their discounted Medicare prescription drug cost allotment.

Diabetics do this very quickly due to the high cost of non-generic insulin.  After thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket drug costs incurred while in the “Donut Hole”, you finally get out late in the year, but only if you have a Healthcare Life Jacket.

It starts all over again the next year.

This mixed media assemblage is made of a Life Jacket, Paint, a Foil badge of made of salted butter and Andes chocolate labels, a Superman superhero figure, a Shark toy, Diabetic test strips and Prescription pill bottles.

Kate Cohen

WINNER: “Most Creative Concept”

If shopping is your BAG, you’ll love Kate Cohen’s ensemble.

This dress was inspired by the universally loved designer shopping bag. Some people stockpile them, some show them off. Their functionality is undeniable, and they’re FREE with purchase.

In the world of fashion, this workhorse of the industry is often overlooked, but today these bags take center stage on the Festival of Arts runway where they show off their sass and pizzazz.

The skirt of Kate’s dress is constructed of 63 recycled designer bags. Since the logo placement is different on each bag, they were meticulously measured, trimmed and folded for precise positioning, to cascade over one another. The ribbon waistband and the hot pink tissue paper was purchased secondhand at The Salvation Army.

Leftover strips of the bags are arranged to create the bodice and adorned with ribbon from the bag handles. The necklace is also created from bag handles, and the earrings are garment labels.

Brad Elsberry

The French painter George Seurat called it Cromo-luminarism. We now simply call it pointillism. In the musical, “Sunday in the park With George,” Stephen Sondheim refers to it as simply, “color and light.” Here, Brad Elsberry gives us a fashion statement referencing that show. He calls this look, “Chromalume #8.”

While helping to empty out a friend’s apartment, Brad came to realize that many of us have probably amassed excessive collections of cloth shopping bags. He “put out the call!” and dozens and dozens of bags were donated to the cause. These bags are almost all made from recycled plastic bottles already. So, now they are reborn a second time in this abstract, recycled, “fashion- comment” on color and light!

Elizabeth McGhee

This dress is ready for the Bathroom Ball!  This ball gown designed and modeled by artist Elizabeth McGhee is made from over a hundred folded toilet paper wrappers.

These toilet paper wrappers protected each individual roll of T.P. and were generously dumped in Elizabeth’s exhibit booth be her fellow artists from both their homes and businesses.

The petticoat is made from a retired shower curtain and plastic tubing from a kitchen sink repair.  The inner cardboard rolls were used to make the embellishments throughout the ensemble.

This dress is all about seeing that beauty really can be found anywhere!

Carolyn Johnson

WINNER: “Most Exciting Ensemble inspired by Pageant of the Masters theme ‘Under the Sun’”

A new exhibitor at the Festival, artists Carolyn Johnson just jumped in feet first and let her imagination run wild. This outfit is complete from head to toe…including a parasol!!

Some of the materials used include: Volleyball net, CDs, Buttons, plastic packing materials, shrink wrap, Perrier bottles, a Bicycle rim, PVC piping, peacock feathers and cardboard. And what is the point of a walk in the Sun without your best friend.

Antje Campbell and Carla Bosch

Each week, thousands of people across Orange County take home a new plastic bag and matching hanger along with their dry cleaning.

Antje Campbell and Carla Bosch decided to hook up….with a crochet needle and transform these environmental enemies into a gorgeous gown.

They cut the plastic bags into strips and taped them together, which they crocheted into fabric for the dress. With pliers and wire cutters they twisted the hangers into swirls and spirals. These adorn the headdress and accessorize the gown.