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Stuart Students Turn Trash to High Fashion Designs to be Displayed at The TerraCycle Store

PRINCETON, NJ, January 25, 2011 – Playing cards, balloons, soda cans, and shredded newspaper made up the winning designs at the Stuart Country Day School “green” fashion show on Friday, January 14, 2011 in the Cor Unum Theater on the Stuart campus in Princeton, NJ.   

Student models strutted across the stage showing off a fashionable portfolio of evening gowns, party dresses, and 3-piece ensembles put together by 20 Middle and Upper School teams and 2 faculty members using donated recyclables. Manu of these teams chose “recycled” accessories made by Lower School students and thirteen Lower School students dressed in black modeled the balance of the accessories in the show.  A host of Pre-Schoolers made recycled flower bouquets to congratulate the winners and participants.

The top-honor for the Upper School went to Elisa Mercando of Belle Mead, Nikki Starke of East Windsor, and Sara McArthur of Hopewell, who created an A-line party dress with playing cards, game pieces, plastic balls, and board game boxes.  The top Middle School design, made by the team of Sophia Jeanes of Princeton, Casey Nelson of Skillman, and Margaux Chen of Belle Mead, was a 3-piece outfit crafted from shredded newspaper, braided plastic bags, and chip bags, and a white trash bag for the blazer.

Judging the show were two rising stars in the fashion industry, Louisa Guy Roeder and Christina French Houghton of the women’s clothing line Guy French, and Lori Anselm from TerraCycle, Inc. The top Upper School design with a “game” theme and a Middle School Runner Up design made from Diet & Regular Coke cans will be on display in The TerraCycle Store in Palmer Square through the end of February.

“As a designer that works with various wastestreams on a daily basis, I especially appreciated the time and effort that goes into creating a garment from trash,” commented Anselm.  “To manipulate wrappers, cans, and paper to be become wearable takes a great deal of experimentation and time. We’re looking forward to displaying the garments for the remainder of the winter season.”

The “green” fashion show was a fundraiser to bring awareness to the annual Spring Auction, “See How Our Garden Grows” on April 2, 2011 at The Hyatt Regency Princeton.  The winning designs from both the Middle and Upper School will be modeled during the event.

“We are very proud of our Stuart girls,” said Auction co-chair Cheryl Lagay.  “They took the idea of ‘green runway’ far beyond our expectations by designing high end fashion from trash. The process required collaboration, imagination and ingenuity and the event turned out to be a real showcase for their talent and creativity. And they raised over $5,000 for their school!"

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About Stuart: Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart is an independent Roman Catholic school for girls in kindergarten through grade 12, as well as a coed preschool and junior kindergarten. Now celebrating its 47th year, Stuart is a member of the National and International Network of Sacred Heart Schools. Stuart offers an education deeply rooted in the goals and criteria of the Sacred Heart that enriches, inspires and empowers its students. While academic rigor is emphasized at Stuart, values are also placed on physical, social and moral growth.

More information about the Auction can be found at the Stuart homepage, www.stuartschool.org under News & Events.