Davie’s Young at Art Children’s Museum recently celebrated its fourth annual eco-friendly fashion show. The museum’s director of development Melissa Wagner Telford checks in with an update of the extremely successful evening…

“In a flurry of ribbons, newspapers, dog tags and wire hangers, models sashayed down the catwalk donning creative, eco-friendly couture at Young At Art’s 4^th Annual Recycled Arts Fashion Show aptly titled “Junk2Funk” to benefit YAA’s teen volunteer program and its at-risk youth programs: ArtREACH and Girls ‘N Power. What made this high-energy show even more memorable is that the all of the 25 edgy garments were designed and created by members of the YAA Teen Volunteers, the World Green Concept Teen Council, and Girls ‘N Power participants from the PACE Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing self esteem programs to young, at-risk females between 12 and 18 years of age.

The evening included models wearing ‘living works of art’ constructed from recycled materials created by miami-based,  eco-artist Luis Valenzuela and Green-to-Wear Art Stations that provided the opportunity for guests to created their own fashion accessories from recycled materials. A whimsical birdcage dress constructed from wire hangers, an umbrella and plastics bags was named by the judges as the winning design.  Second place was awarded to a criss-crossed bodice dress made of plastic bottle strips and tongue-in-cheek bottles hanging from the hem.  A dress with an elaborate bustier made from ribbon and expired dog tags placed third.

The evening’s judges were Martin Amado, host and designer for Room for Improvement on WSVN 7 News; Mariana Rodriguez, television host for Accesso Total on Telemundo; Luis Valenzuela, eco-artist and founder of Green Art USA; and Marjanne Kalf, local fashion designer. Mary Giuseffi, renowned fashion/image consultant who has appeared on Oprah and ABC News, was the emcee for the evening. The 5^th Annual Recycled Arts Fashion Event is scheduled for November 19, 2010.  For more info click here.