12th Annual EcoFashion Show

Darcy Muller '27 modeled a star-spangled top with a denim skirt. Photo by Isa Montes

In its 12th year running, student designers and models lit up the stage at the 2025 EcoFashion Show. With the de Saisset Museum set up with a runway reminiscent of New York Fashion Week, the stakes were high for these student creators, and they did not disappoint. 

The runway, doused in colorful lights, waited patiently while representatives from the Center for Sustainability explained the reasoning for the sustainability-themed show. The students spoke about the detriments of fast fashion, and its disturbing impact on carbon dioxide emissions, as well as the importance of responsible sourcing, durability and wearability in shopping for clothing. 

This year’s show also highlighted Bucky’s Closet, a free thrift store on campus that opened on Sept. 26. Many pieces for this show featured clothing sourced from the closet, which has attracted hundreds of student shoppers since its opening. 

Along with using items from Bucky’s Closet, designers were not supposed to spend any money on their creations. The show emphasized using and reusing old materials that might otherwise be in landfills. 

The show began in earnest with designer Anna Truong ’26. She highlighted her Vietnamese heritage with pieces like “Trad Wife,” featuring a  long skirt and parasol. She showed high-fashion creativity with pieces like “Denimz”—complete with a patchwork, puzzle-piece jean jacket—and “Blazing Fire,” showcasing subtle pops of color. Her last design was a whimsical costume titled “Mother Nature,” which was a collaboration with Melanie Rayas ’26. 

Rayas presented her own work next, titled “Hat’s Off To Lunacy,” an “Alice in Wonderland” themed design. This elaborate design made use of ties for the skirt and included an over-the-top top hat to pull it all together. 

Charlotte Siegel ’27 followed Rayas with an outfit that she designed and modeled herself titled “Knot Theory.” An ode to the nautical, this was made with hand-knotted rope and stuck to the marine theme well with accessories to match. 

Up next was Kelsey Mallard ’28 with her piece called “Buttoned Up,” a corset top and skirt decked out in buttons, which she noted were accumulated from many places such as thrift and vintage stores. 

Emma McCarthy ’27 presented several designs. Sunny Side Up featured two coordinated outfits on two models. The yellow and pink outfits screamed Spring, perfect for the show in April. Second was her piece inspired by Grease—she noted her model Tikdem Heffernan ’27 loves the film. A pajama get-up complete with a teddy bear in hand, it was called “Frenchy's Night In.” Very chic. 

Her next creation was based on her two cats Keith and Gibby, which the design was aptly called. She crafted an image of her two felines on the front of an old sweatshirt she had nothing to do with. The result was both cute and fashionable—cat ladies are fun these days. 

Finally, she showed off a tailored dress she called “Grad Season”—once her own high school graduation dress—that she spruced up for Kat Lytle ’25, her model, to wear to her own graduation this year. This piece shows the durability and cyclic nature of clothing, something you just can’t find when shopping fast fashion. 

The next designer was Amy Nguyen ’28, who made a series of denim works with names just as creative as the works themselves: “THROWB4CK,” “EVO1VE,” and “!CONIC.” These works utilized denim in creative ways, with jean leg warmers, a denim corset and the stitching together of multiple pairs of jeans into something completely new, all with a Y2K flair. 

The final designer of the evening was Michele Chinn ’26, starting off her works with a collection titled “REMcycled,” which made use of pillowcases in wearable looks. Her first, aptly titled “Reign in REM,” was an elegant and playful look with a long skirt and perfectly fitted top. Next was a work wear outfit titled “Off The Clock,” incorporating a lively purple gingham fabric mixed with a khaki skirt. The final piece in the REMcycled collection, “Cherry Draped Dreams,” was modeled by Chinn herself, the red draped skirt playing wonderfully with the light-wash jeans she wore underneath. 

Chinn finished the show with a double look titled “DENIMssance.” Jalen Paige ‘26 modeled patch-work jeans that were both insanely detailed and totally wearable, while Darcy Muller ’27 rocked a denim skirt and star-spangled top.

At the end of the show, all the models came out for one more go-around in front of the awed audience. While the judges deliberated on the prizes to be awarded, the student band One Million Beers played on the stage. 

The final prizes went to the following: Fan Favorite Award to Siegal’s “Knot Theory,” Versatility Award to McCarthy’s “Sunny Side Up,” High-End Fashion Award to Nguyen’s “!CONIC,” Imaginative Award to Rayas’s “Hats Off to Lunacy,” and Best in Show Award to Michele Chinn’s “DENIMssance.”