With goals of influencing people’s fashion choices, showcasing local art and giving attendees a fun experience, Earth Fest 2025 at UWRF will feature a “Trashion Show.” The show is a fashion show featuring outfits made through reusing and upcycling.

“Whether it is showcasing what was destined for a landfill but got recycled, or something that is reused by mending or reused by thrifting,” UWRF Adjunct Professor Tovah Flygare said. “There’s even going to be a kale dress that’s entirely compostable.”

This is the first Trashion Show at Earth Fest, with excitement swirling. Artists are largely local and so are the models who will cover a wide age range.

“This is the first time we are trying this event, but it fits in with the overall spirit of Earth Fest in that we’re taking all of the sustainability information, education and experiences in our community and showcasing that in a way that makes it fun,” Flygare said.

Waste is a problem in many industries, with the fashion industry being no stranger to criticism. Flygare hopes an event like this can show people there are ways to be fashionable other than fast fashion.

“It takes anywhere from hundreds to thousands of gallons of water to make a T-shirt. That we’ve got mountains of discarded clothes just degrading in different parts of the world because nobody wants them. That we’ve got enough textile fashion trash going to landfills and it’s like a dump truck every few minutes,” Flygare said. “It’s well and good to send that information out, but it’s a little bit depressing, and after a while, who wants to hear more depressing information. So, we’re hoping the Trashion Show will showcase how exciting, how fun it can be to pick out your own upcycled outfit.”

Flygare said Earth week is special because of its origins right at home in Wisconsin, when politician Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day back in 1970 as a teach-in about environmental issues. The city, university, businesses and community have bought in to helping Earth Fest be a successful celebration in the city annually.

Art’s House on Main Street in River Falls has a display of some of these outfits for the second time available for the public to see.

“One of the things that we talked about with the previous manager was that we thought it would be fun to do a wearable art show,” Petra Guenthner-Johnson said. “We talked about expanding it and collaborating with Earth Fest just because we're noticing that a lot of our artists just really have their finger on the pulse of sustainability.

“First of all, it’s just fun,” she said. “I hope that they take away just a new perspective on what fashion can be, and maybe just kind of rethinking what their choices are with buying it or how long they choose to wear it.”

The Trashion Show is at 1 p.m. April 26 at the Falcon’s Nest Entertainment Complex on the first floor of the UWRF University Center.

“Come get some creative ideas, see some fantastic outfits, meet some wonderful people and stay for the rest of Earth Fest because it’s always quite a fun time,” Flygare said.

Some area thrift stores have partnered with the show, including The Closet from Our Neighbors’ Place, Adoray’s Treasures from the Heart and Second Chances. Some of their pieces will be available for silent auction at the show.

There will also be a clothing swap event at Earth Fest where people can swap gently used clothing with each other.