Clothes made with recycled material to be featured in San Luis fashion show

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — Recycling not only is environmentally friendly, it can be fashionable. That concept will be on display here Friday night in Girls Take Over, a firstever women’s fashion show featuring clothing made from recyclable materials.

The show, which also features art pieces made from recycled products, is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at Rolls and Bowls restaurant, 1627 E. Cesar Chavez Blvd., and admission is free.

Six models will don dresses, blouses, jackets and other clothing made from recyclables, said Mily Verdugo, a San Luis artist who is staging the event with the help of the Chicano Art Collective.

“The idea is for people who create fashions with recycled materials to have a platform to show their

articles (of clothing) that they created with used materials, with pieces of other clothing and any other repurposed material.”

Verdugo said five clothing designers from around the area so far have confirmed they will provide wearable items for exhibition — Rocio Garcia Montiel, Jennifer Ramirez, Neri Nieblas, Cleme Garcia, Liz Aranda, and sisters Lily and Flor Chong.

Artists working with recycled materials as a medium may also exhibit their creations at the same event, she added.

“We have noticed that there are a lot of people with talent to create recycled art,” Verdugo said. “I think it’s an ideal pursuit in our area. Recycled art is normally done in a workshop or inside. With the weather we’re having it lends itself to working inside a home.”

As happens in a typical fashion show, the clothing

will be modeled on a catwalk while a narrator — in some cases the narrators themselves — will explain how the clothing was created and what materials went into it.

“The concept of recycled (items) is to buy as few materials as possible,” Verdugo said. “In our homes we have so many things that can serve us to create art pieces and to spur the creativity and imagination. Perhaps only some glue or thread needs to be bought to create the piece.”

The show will also feature a performance by Feromona, a rock and reggae band made up of three female musicians from Mexicali, Baja Calif.

For more information about Girls Take Over, call Mily Verdugo, 928-285-3104, or Rolls and Bowls, 928-5505342.

PHOTO COURTESY MILY VERDUGO MILY VERDUGO SHOWS off a jacket and footwear made in part with magazines clippings, as an example of how recyclables can be used in fashions. Verdugo is organizer of a fashion show Friday in San Luis featuring clothing made from recycled products.

PHOTOS COURTESY MILY VERDUGO LEONARDO ROJAS CREATED art from aluminum cans. His creations will be on display Friday in a fashion show in San Luis, Ariz., that features clothing and art made from recyclables.

THIS DRESS, SHOWN OFF during a recent Day of the Dead celebration in Yuma, was designed by San Luis artist Mily Verdugo using CDs and other recyclables. Verdugo is an organizer of Girls Take Over, a fashion show Friday in San Luis feature clothing made from recycled materials.