Prior to Thursday, January 22, the II Form, Crescent, and Circle Houses gathered what they could of cardboard, paper, bottles, and more for an outfit to be presented at the Trashion Show. This annual event during ‘Sustainuary’ is the kickoff to a series of events organized by the Sustainability Council, this year led by Student Council Sustainability Representative Louise Carroll ’26. The Trashion Show is held during School Meeting, and one House member, along with their House Sus Rep, comes on stage to represent their House’s final designs.
From Batman costumes to beautifully curated dresses, every House brought their unique design onto the stage. The three judges, Student Council members Sienna Kulynych ’26, Victor Nikolaev ’26, and Martina Yanovich ’26. evaluated each outfit based on the quality of the responses each House Sus Rep gave to Carroll’s questions, sustainability. and creativity, respectively. Applause accompanied every entrance, followed by loud exclaims from the crowd as the judges revealed their ratings.
Among the designs, the winning piece came from the McClellan House, created by Melina Kyriakopoulos ’27, Gerise Kelly ’27, and other members of the House. As the McClellan House Sus Rep, Kyriakopoulos led the planning process and drew the initial design for the dress. “I love fashion, and I love designing, but I’m also really passionate about sustainability,” she said. When asked about her creative inspiration, Kyriakopoulos mentioned creating a Pinterest board and brainstorming with McClellan’s House colors. Her goal for the dress was to display the close bonds within the McClellan House community. “The vines and flowers came from that idea of being connected,” Kyriakopoulos explained.
“Soon, many of the materials [appeared] as we went along,” Kelly said. “We were originally going to do the bodice with cardboard,” she elaborated, “except then [Mathematics Teacher Jesse Oberst ’00] found a ton of old Walmart bags, so we cut them out and moved them to form the perfect bodice.”
One of the most distinctive elements of the McClellan piece was the paper roses that covered the dress, each made by hand by members of the McClellan House over the course of the week. “Everyone contributing really led to our win,” Kelly said, noting that while the roses appeared simple, each one took time and much patience to make. Throughout the week, students worked on them in the McClellan common room and the Bunn Library, and by the night before the Trashion Show, the project had become a full group effort. Various members of the House gathered to assemble the dress in the common room, and even Jack, Oberst’s son, stopped by to help.
According to Kelly, the House faced a few moments of uncertainty. Midway through the process, the dress still appeared unfinished, with only the bodice and layers of glued paper in place. Instead of scrapping the idea, the group continued. “We kept saying, ‘Trust the process,’ over and over,” Kelly recalled. She believes that this mindset ultimately carried them through the days leading up to the Trashion Show.
When McClellan was announced as the winner on Thursday, Kelly described feeling excitement and pride, saying,“I was so incredibly proud of our House and of [Kyriakopoulos] for coming up with the idea.”.
Kyriakopoulos believes that the Trashion Show reinforced what Sustainuary aims to highlight. “Sustainability doesn’t have to be boring,” Kyriakopoulos concluded. “Small changes, when you put them together, are what [make] the biggest difference.”
