The Global Fashion Citizens (GFC) organization on campus held an outdoors fashion show on Thursday night at Risman Plaza, which centered around sustainability.

Kelly Cunningham, a freshman fashion merchandising major, was in charge of the event.

“I think sustainability is a very important issue, but I think that it is super annoying when people incessantly go on and on about recycling,” Cunningham said.  

Cunningham said she intended to host the show during FlashFest for a reason.

“I tried to make this whole thing super casual and I wanted to do it during FlashFest so there would be lots of people around,” she said.  

Cunningham went on to explain that the show was meant to display to the community that buying brand new clothes isn’t always necessary.

“We believe fashion can be cool, safe, clean and stylish without having to buy new clothes or waste materials, this is what sustainability in fashion is all about,” Cunningham said.

The show featured skirts made of plastic and beads from old magazines to normal, everyday outfits that anyone would wear, all made from upcycled and second-hand materials.

“Sustainability in fashion needs to happen,” Cunningham said. “So many people just buy new clothes when you can take what you have and make it something completely different.”

Brigid Kearns, a freshman fashion design major, made two of the outfits presented in the show. One featured a skirt made out of plastic bottles and a top made from old grocery bags. Another was an old tutu made into a dress and handmade beads from old magazines. Kearns said they took some time but she was very happy with the result.

“We need more sustainability in fashion. There are too many people who buy clothes, wear them once or twice and throw them away,” Kearns said. “Just think about all the waste from homecoming, prom and wedding dresses that only get worn once.”

Grace Blackley, a sophomore visual communication design major, was there to watch the show. She said she was impressed by all of the different materials they used and said she had never thought about it before.

“This is something that needs to be better known. It’s unbelievable how different they were able to use grocery bags and plastic bottles and make them look good too,” Blackley said. “This show also is a great way to get people thinking about where to shop to be more sustainable with their fashions.”

Zak Kinkaid is the continuing studies and distance education reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].