By Duck Paterson
It’s not every day a secondary school has a fashion show featuring used apparel.
It’s also not every day that a couple of the stars of the catwalk are the vice principal and the principal of the school… but that is what happened on April 22 at Ladysmith Secondary School.
‘Fast Fashion’ happened to show students what can be accomplished with other folks’ very useable discards.
To acknowledge Earth Week 2022, the student council at LSS worked with volunteers from the Ladysmith Healthcare Auxiliary to host a ‘Thrift It Fashion Show’, featuring sustainable fashion.
Students selected various clothing pieces from the store to feature at the fashion show. The auxiliary gave all students discounted prices and even opened the store for students to peruse the selection and make their purchases.
‘Fast Fashion’, according to students council co-president Maddy Jolly, “is an example of over-consumption. We buy items on urges, wear it a couple of times and then dispose of it. It’s clothing that is made in very unhealthy settings and often using child labour. It’s made to imitate runway images and often uses harsh chemicals in its production that damage the environment.”
She added: “If we use sources such as the Auxilary Thrift Store not only do we save money but we also support local and that keeps money in our community.”
“The clothing is based on trendy runway looks and is often worn for a season before being discarded. Buying thrift clothing is one way to minimize waste associated with fast fashion,” said Moira Dolen, student council sponsor teacher.
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Kayla Henry, co-president of the student council, added: “We had the best support from the Health Care Auxiliary as they understood what we were trying to express. Deanna Noonan, from the store was huge in helping all the students who participated.”
All the clothing featured in the show was going to be auctioned off to students from the school.
The minimum donation was $2 and all the funds raised would go back to the Health Care Auxiliary.
Participants featured in the show were Maddy Jolly, Kayla Henry, Bianca Steele, Clifton Tollelfson, Emma Pakosz, Maitlan Pellatt, Diego Guevara Mix, Layla O’Brian, Caidence Burns, Avi McIntyre and Keizo Tollefson, along with vice principal Laura Harrison. Other members of the student council who helped co-ordinate the event were Ava Kennedy, Brianna Naduzzi and Ella Hillbercht.
The successful lunch-hour show attracted more than 300 students.