Junior’s Design Makes BFW Finals

Combining her two loves—the environment and fashion—Springs junior Chloe Miller ’18 used 350 recycled plastic bags and 150 recycled CDs to design a dress that is both “chic and environmentally friendly.”

 

Made by Miller by hand, the dress was one of 18 designs chosen as a finalist in the 2016 Rising Design Star challenge. Part of Birmingham Fashion Week, the competition invites high school-aged designers to create a garment out of recycled or alternative materials, without sewing.

 

“I’ve always really liked fashion design,” says Miller. “I got my first mannequin in fifth grade as a gift from my grandparents because I was always drawing.”

 

She was drawn to the Rising Design Star Challenge, which features students’ designs modeled on a runway, because she is also passionate about the environment.

 

“The fashion industry is right behind oil in the pollution it creates,” says Miller. “Something will have to change or we won't have a world to live in. This is my way of proving that you can create something chic out of recycled materials.”

 

Miller asked classmate Juliet Wiatrak ’18 to model the 5’4” dress. “I was overjoyed that I could help one of my best friends display her talents as a designer,” says Wiatrak.

To get into the dress for the competition, Wiatrak had to stand on a step stool; someone then held the dress at an angle, and Miller lifted and dropped her into it. “After doing this on multiple occasions, it came with ease for the show,” says Wiatrak. “Getting me out was much easier. We had to push the dress down a bit, and I could step out of it.”

 

Springs Arts Department Chair Clay Colvin ’95, who has taught Miller pottery and sculpture, drawing and painting, applauds the research and hard work that Miller put into designing the dress: “It is great to see students like Chloe making connections between sustainability and creativity.”