PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (WLOX) — Bottle caps, fishing line, and trash bags. For these students, these things aren’t just trash; they’re a fashion statement.
Students from Biloxi High School and Barton Academy in Mobile designed and wore outfits built entirely from debris pulled off of local shorelines, as part of the first-ever “Washed up to Wow” trash-ion show.
It’s the newest addition to the Celebrate the Gulf Marine Education Festival, a free coastal education event that’s been running since 1991.
“I guess we just wanted to bring attention to the things that are like currently happening because we’re a coastal city, so it’s definitely kind of acknowledging like the importance of what’s happening,” Barton Academy eighth-grader Addie Harrington said. “So that kind of inspired us to, you know, participate in the contest and kind of represent our city and how we can help.”
The looks didn’t come together overnight. Barton Academy’s 8th graders stayed late after school for two to three weeks, with their community pitching in to donate materials.
“It’s supposed to kind of represent like the beach and how, you know, ocean wildlife has kind of had to adapt to the living circumstances that people have, you know, inflicted on them,” Harrington said.
Each design was scored on originality, creativity, difficulty, and overall impression, but the audience had a say too, with a People’s Choice winner.
For Valerie Alley, the director of Office of Restoration for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, the designs are secondary to the lesson behind them.
“This project, and then subsequently this fashion show, is to bring awareness to what kinds of things are found in the environment,” she said. “Encourage kids to go help clean it up to make the designs. But just education and awareness of what’s out there that shouldn’t be.”
When scores were tallied, Barton Academy’s design took both People’s Choice and first place. Second place went to the Biloxi High School Fashion Club.
Organizers say the health of the coast starts with awareness, and the ‘Washed up to Wow’ event is just the beginning.
In Pass Christian, Ava Schwing, WLOX News Now.”
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