Friday night was Redline’s annual Fusion Fashion Show. It’s a great celebration of art through fashion using recycled materials.  If you had a chance to see my Repurposed Runway sneak peek, you know there was some truly exquisite work.  At this second event, we were able to see everything again as well as find out the winners of the design competition.

This year a new element was added to the show – a designer’s showcase presented by M Magazine which featured lines from 4 designers. Each designer came out and spoke so we could learn a little about themselves and their inspirations for their lines.  We got shots of the full lines from each designer on the Barely Practical Redline Fusion Fashion Show Facebook album, and I highlighted some of my favorites below.

I really liked the texture and color of this dress by Redat Davison below. Redat is a recent Pius High School graduate and some of her work was on display at the Smithsonian Institution this past summer.

Chicago designer Julia Tiedt teamed up with artist Zach Mory to debut this new line, Willow Worn.  The overall line was inspired by urban decay and many of the garments contain a custom made fabric designed by Zach. This dress just stood out for me in the way the bottom pieces of her dress moved and flowed when the model walked.

I really loved the knitwear look below from Aeran Park.  Aeran is the new Creative Director at Fashion Angel Enterprises and one of the mentoring artists at Redline.

The next three looks are from Milwaukee designer Kelvin Haydon. Kelvin has some really fun and funky pieces.  The bottom one is worth noting as it’s a true two-in-one outfit. We watched the model walk out with the cape and pants, do a shimy and then it turned into the dress.  Perfect if you need to easily transition from day-to-evening.

Then came the repurposed runway show pieces. I highlighted the design contest winners below, but you can find all of the creations on the Barely Practical Redline Fusion Fashion Show Facebook album.

The award for best construction went to Water Lily by Irena Mandic.  You can see a small amount of the weaving that went into the back and front from this side view. It was gorgeous and little things like the gold fish just pushed it over the top. The outfit was made from shrink-wrap, glitter, cardboard box, newspaper, wire hangers, glue, and discarded bits from last year’s dress.

 The award for the best use of recycled materials went to Faint Footsteps to the Past by Dagmara Costello. The dress was made from roof lining, deer netting, leftover spline and the jewelry was made from rubber spline, recycled Christmas glass beads, and recycled jewelry.

The award for Best Team went to The Bear, the River, and the Menominee by Kohls team Anna Yoder and Jonathan Carnehl. Their creation embodies the Menominee tribe of Northern Wisconsin’s creation story. It’s made from rubber car mats, badminton racquet, traffic cone, clothes line, wood, chip board, leather jacket, denim shirt, woven button down shirt, wood scarf, several orange t-shirts, and rib knit from a Kohls sample.

The people’s choice award went to Wind over Water by Karee Hart.  This stunning creation was made from garbage bags, newspaper, acrylic paint, luster dust spray paint, thread, wine bottle protective castings, styrofoam cups, water bottle caps, and helium balloons.

The final award was for best in show and went to Ladybird by the Kohls team of Jeremy Clouse and Laura Cruz. It was made from discarded plastic water bottles, donated curtain, discarded Thai produce bag, sports bra elastic, used pillowcase zipper, gilding wax copper paint, patina paints, and copper and white spray paint.

Overall the show is a little more expensive than most in the Milwaukee area, but the money goes to support Redline’s mission and you definitely get your money’s worth from a fashion perspective.  I really enjoyed it and look forward to having the opportunity to see it again next year.