Fashion merchandising students showed off their final projects in a recycled fashion show in the library on April 28. The event, featuring designs in Asian styles, opened the Asian Fest celebrations.

The fashion show, in its second year, featured 10 garments designed by students and alumni of FCC with the library staff and fashion merchandising faculty assisting the production. The event’s sponsors included the River Park Shopping Center, Vac & Sew, Paul Mitchell-The School, Karkazian Jewelers, Premiere Talent and the Culinary Arts program at FCC.

“I am amazed at this library; it is beautiful and fits the vibe of the show and Asian Fest so well,” Tamara Karson, an audience member and friend of Talene Karkazian, the visual director of the fashion show as well as a sponsor.

The students’ designs were made entirely out of recycled materials from bottle caps, newspaper, cardboard, duct tape, and even burlap bags.

At the beginning of the show, organizers stated that the purpose of having recycled garments is to raise awareness of ethical fashion, from the issue of clothing being produced in sweatshops to the fact that 70 pounds of textile waste per person per year ends up in a landfill.

Alejandra Alcaraz, a  fashion merchandising student, made her designs from construction paper, cardboard, bottle caps, table cloths, and trash bags. “I was very happy to see my garment out there, especially after all the hard work and my fingers raw from working with those bottle caps,” Alcaraz said.

“I’m looking into a master’s program in Hong Kong, so I am learning Chinese right now,” Yazmine Enriquez, an alumni designer, said. She is graduating in May and hopes to further her fashion merchandising degree in China. Enriquez’s design was made out of orange fruit bags and newspaper. “I am really into the mesh trend right now, so the closest recyclable material was the oranges bags,” she said. Enriquez garment was the latest fashion trend for 2017 and was inspired by traditional kimono garments.

Gustavo Diaz, a current student graduating next year, said he will get an associate’s degree and then pursue his own clothing line which is already in the works through his website thedeathofmeco.com.

“It’s called ‘The Death of Me’ because I had a second chance, and I am not taking it for granted,” Diaz said. “I want to support people who are struggling with life issues while also providing unique personalized clothing.”

Diaz’s website features a contact link for support as well as purchasing clothing. His

design was made of cardboard, computer parts, spray paint and duct tape. He said his inspiration was the detailed armor of Samurai.

Linda Kobashigawa, an FCC Librarian, explained how the event turned out a lot bigger with 50 to 100 more people, thanks to the tie in with Asian Fest. “They helped promotion wise by putting our event on their flyers.”

Kobashigawa said that this final project for the fashion students is very beneficial to them and provides a type of portfolio to aid their application to fashion schools.

Each design from the fashion show will be on display in the library until May 10.