Nine local businesses are putting their trash fashion creativity to the test by competing in this year’s Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show’s 8th Business Challenge. Each year a group of businesses come together to celebrate sustainability, support REALMS education, and compete for the Coveted Trash Trophy. Bring your friends and your voting block, to support your pick to win the Business Challenge!
Returning businesses:
The Bend Area Habitat for Humanities Restore – The fashion forward trash fashionistas from ReStore bring us their 8th Business Challenge. This dedicated team have competed every year, and currently hold the Coveted Trash Trophy! ReStore certainly embodies the notion of sustainability as a way of life.
Barrio
– In for their 3rd Business Challenge, Save the Bull, is a matador inspired piece made from garbage bound items from Barrio’s restaurant. Before switching t
o paper straws, the staff collected used plastic straws from empty margaritas over a few months period. Photo just in! We know designer Paris Draheim, is a master material manipulator!
BBT Architects – This group of creative folks are competing in their 3rd challenge. They bring material manipulation at its best. This photo (to the right) is a computer generated concept image of what is to come, all created out of 
post rebranding, obsolete, business cards.
Brave Collective – Jen Riker, owner of Brave Collective, was inspired when she accompanied her son on the Realms 6th grade fieldwork trip to the Portland Food Bank. In their 2nd Business Challenge they have created their piece out of plastic red mesh onion bags and labels.
Giant Loop – For their 2nd Business Challenge, the Giant Loop team created this 20’s and 60’s inspired shift dress from over 100 2-inch ykk zippers, nylike webbing, quick release cams and assorted buckles and reflective ribbon tape. This fabulous ensembles purpose is to encourage you to shift your thinking into a greener world.
Moonfire and Sun – is back for it’s 2nd Business Challenge with another Simone Kujak created piece. We’ve seen Simone transform rubbish into red carpet ready fashion from our early shows. This year, garden waste from broken pottery and burlap to rubber bands from pottery packaging will come alive on the runway.
New this year:
Bend Velo – As the bike commuting and touring hub of Bend, Bend Velo not only by their very nature, screams sustainability (keeping cars off the road), they also create the classy J Livingston line of retro commuter bikes re-purposed from old mountain bike frames. Designer Karen Holm designed “Raven Warrior” from the 
biggest bike related waste . . . the inner tubes.
Bigfoot Beverages – For their first Business Challenge, seasoned designer/model, DeeDee Johnson created a piece out of beverage packaging. Big Foot has a small environmental footprint for a business its size. They converted their fleet to biodiesel fuel, use electric 
forklifts, and hybrid vehicles are available to sales personnel.
Lonza – “Rubbish Royalty” is Lonza’s first foray into Rubbish Renewed fashion. This is the most enthusiastic team, creating 3 pieces with 5 designers! The leading supplier in life science industries, and the research center of the company, we love that they are placing sustainability at the core.
Who will you cast your Business Challenge ballot for?
This is just a sneak peak of what is to come this Friday Night at the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. Get your tickets today!
and Sara Bella supported with funds; Boneyard and Plum crafted our bar; and Tambi Lane Photography took marketing portraits and offered to shoot the show. We came up with a name, and friends suggested we create an image and a tag line for people to recognize. We got some media on board with the Source, True North Parenting Magazine, and Abracadabra printed our posters. And we pulled together a unique market place of local like-minded artists to add to the evening event. Then all we had to do was produce a show . . .
