Pantyhose Dress
Designer/Model: Christine Heiszer (a.k.a. Susan Lenz).
Pantyhose and kayak packaging material.
Susan competed against herself in 2013 with both entries finishing in the top ten designs.
A Taste of Pepsi®
Designer: Kyle Taylor Kirchman / Model: Amanda P. Bluestein.
Aluminum cans and bottles, plastic tarp and ornament hooks.
Kyle’s handcut, 220-can dress has been featured on Pepsi’s official website and Facebook page.
Stringer Dress
Designer/Model: Lani Stringer
Refrigerator magnets, fork truck capacity plates and battery specification plates.
Lani’s design, the 2011 Greenability Award winner, was led by the rigid, non-malleable materials she chose.
PETA Romper
Designer: Jamine Santiago Model: Jada Dinc.
Animal feed bags.
“The bags are very durable,” says Jamine, “but when you try to sew them they disintegrate!”
Special thanks to Joseph Walker and Richland Mall, Columbia Design League and Bree Price, make-up artist for Jada Dinc
When the lights go up at Columbia Design League’s Runaway Runway on Sat., April 5 at the Township Auditorium, expect a repurposed spectacle. The design competition, hosted by Columbia Design League, a Columbia Museum of Art affiliate group, brings together talented designers who reimagine trash into ultra-creative wearables. It is wrapped in an entertaining fashion show that presents more than 50 unique designs to a roaring audience. Sewing aficionado and three-time entrant Susan Hamilton, who partners with daughter Liesel, admits her willingness to feed her hobby causes her husband some minor chagrin. “Once you start doing Runaway Runway,” she laughs, “you can never ignore trash piles again!”
The Green Dress
Designer: Madison Cotterill / Model: Jessica R. Lowery
Rug remnants, pull tabs, packing material, produce bags and a mummified bird.
Madison, Dreher High School junior and three-time entrant, doesn’t have a magic design formula. “I just grab scissors and go at it,” she says.
Paint Swatch Dress
Designer: Tom Chinn / Model: Angela LaBord
Paint swatch cards and garbage can liners.
When a local paint store closed, Tom turned landfill-bound paint swatches into a form-fitting bustier.
All Tied Up
Designer: Edwina Gwynn / Model: Kendra Ford
Men’s neckties.
For her first-ever design, Edwina sourced 49 ties from family members and Craigslist.
On Pointe
Designers: Liesel and Susan Hamilton / Model: Carolyn Walden
Discarded ballet pointe shoes and ankle ribbons.
The designers originally wanted to go full-length, but the skirt as is weighs a very heavy 13.5 pounds.
