On Saturday, September 7, fashion and environmental advocacy will come together in a spectacular showing of flora and fauna at this year’s Trash Makeover Challenge.

The Trash Makeover Challenge, now in its 14th year, is a unique fashion show and live auction event supporting the Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE). Amateur and professional designers alike will send garments down the runway, where at least 90 percent of their materials must be recycled. Past shows have featured designs made entirely from Coca-Cola bottle caps, 600 fish scales sewn into a skirt, and once, live ladybugs released onto a garment.

This year’s theme is Avant-Garden. The entire night will be a whimsical and playful twist on avant-garde art and fashion combined with the natural world. Attendees (who are also highly encouraged to dress up on theme) can expect to see designs by artists Megan Pinto, Melissa Prentice, Myrna Lewis, Halima Abdul-Jaleel, Robyn Scully, Cindy Rellin, Teresa Klein, and Greg Lara.

There will also be a live auction featuring some truly delightful prizes: SXSW Music Passes for next year, a Thai cooking class with dinner for six, weekend getaways, jewelry from local artists, massages, and much more. One big-ticket local item is 40 dinners for two at some of Austin’s best restaurants including Bar Peached, Eddie V’s, and Moonshine Patio & Grill.

The event includes a live auction, with items like SXSW passes, dinners for two, massages, and more. Photo courtesy of Zina Harding.

Throughout the evening, guests can sip on themed cocktails (like the Tito’s Bee’s Knees with honey syrup and fresh lemon juice) and enjoy a delicious dinner, as the designers' fantastical creations march down the runway.

Some of the designs this year include garments made from hundreds of Scantron tests and clothing made out moss and live flowers.

Designer and teacher Teresa Klein says, “I have taken the used tests and exam Scantrons from hundreds of students and transformed them into thousands of beads that make up the base of my dress. Notes, paper, an old textbook, and other school-related paper makes up the flowered bodice. If we count all the hours my students spent studying, this look took thousands of hours!"

Designer and teacher Teresa Klein is showing a look made from hundreds of recycled scantrons and tests from her students.Photo courtesy of Teresa Klein

Klein has participated in this event three times now, and her team came in third last year. She says this year, working with paper feels more "freeing."

"In past years, I've worked with plastics," she says. "This feels less toxic, but at the same time it has caused me to look at the usage of paper at my place of work. I am seeing the colors of a classroom in a different light."

Another designer, Greg Lara, has also participated in the event several times. In fact, his team won the People's Choice Award in 2023 and 2022, and was the overall winner in 2015. Lara says that he "love[s] that every year is a different theme." This year, Lara's design will feature materials like recycled poultry fencing, moss, real flowers, and garden netting.

"I love this event," says Lara, an amateur designer, hairstylist, and salon owner. "I will always participate."

Guest judges for this year’s fashion show include BiNi Scoor, the CEO and Founder of 212 Catalysts; Ilonka Soto-Pelyvas, owner and director of Austin School of Fashion Design; Patty Hoffpauir, owner of The Garden Room; and Sugar Gay Isber, owner and founder of Gay Isber Designs. The evening’s emcee will be KXAN’s Jala Washington.

And you better believe these judges have a lot of responsibility this evening. At stake for the winning designers’ teams are a grand prize of $3,000; a second place prize of $1,000; and prizes from $350-500 for third place, a People’s Choice, and “Seedling Awards” for new college designers.

"[Last year] my model was a co-founder of the Gulf of Mexico Youth Climate Summit," Klein says. "We donated the winnings to that organization to help bring young people to their annual summit in the Coastal Bend."

The winning looks will be donated to TCE and reused for promotional purposes next year.

The winning design in 2023, made by Megan Pinto.Photo courtesy of Megan Pinto

This fairytale-like event will take place at the Texas Disposal Systems Wildlife Ranch & Pavilion in South Austin. Tickets are $75 and include dinner, complimentary cocktails, the fashion show, and access to the live auction. Proceeds will go toward TCE’s work to protect public health and the environment in communities most affected by pollution from oil, gas, and petrochemical plants.

To learn more about the grassroots advocacy non-profit, Texas Campaign for the Environment, visit texasenvironment.org.