The Commission: before making of outfit

Before i made my newspaper outfit, I looked into several designers and photographers that share a similarity towards my idea… Adam Bouska's Blog explores the relationship between waste and fashion especially with paper. I think the designs are sophisticated yet unique and stylised. I believe the hair and make-up also play a massive role when capturing the style and narrative you are wishing to portray. And when analysing he tow images, I like how the set coordinator has used newspaper as a background. I think from using this type of background, the model almost looks like its fading into the material, highlighting the importance of diminishing away, and believe the idea represents the theme of `recycle, waste and fashion`. I would like to practice with this idea and perhaps capture some test shots to see if this approach is effective?

To help expand my knowledge of creating recycled clothing, I also looked into `Junk to Funk`. This company ……

Before making my outfit I also considered looking onto YouTube for ideas and how I could possibly create this garment? Fashion and recycling course taught by the Spanish artist /designer Ana Seco Duran and assistant fashion designer Eslam Hamed.

ECOuture(16 images)

First Prize winner of the August contest of 2011 Annual Pollux Awards (Fashion Category) by Worldwide Photography Gala Awards.
This series of images portrays a group of teenage girls with their hand-made dresses from recycled materials, posing like the fashion models they see every day. The dresses were created during a design workshop at Common Threads in Boulder, CO.

Why? For teenagers, fashion is a powerful social statement. As a means of expression to their peers and the rest of the world, it feeds their sense of identity. It's their malleable tool to show both conformity and individuality.
As it relates to this project, today's youth is increasingly aware of the need for reducing the consumption of raw materials, recycling, and waste production. It could be said that our society is in its youth of sustainable management of resources. The juxtaposition of this self-selected group of girls with ghostly piles of trash illustrates the "new" spirit in fashion - unpretentious and eco-progressive - from the ground up.

Although the girls comfortably assumed the poses and distant stares of professional models, their faces and postures clearly reveal the inexperienced, coarse nature of youth. I didn't re-touch the girls in post-production and purposely wanted any pimples, bruises or braces to remain part of the images. Look at their faces for confident attitudes, mixed with "deer in the headlights" insecurity, and real, not rehearsed, passion.