Photo by Engine Co. #1

Recycled fashion has been created out of 700 feet worth of banners that were used to promote the Monterey Bay Aquarium by Academy of Art University students from the School of Industrial Design and the School of Fashion .   The 72-foot long, 5 foot wide banners, which hung from the ceiling of the Hyatt in downtown San Francisco in July and August 2011 as part of a promotional campaign, were provided by the Aquarium to the Academy as part of the “Sea Fashion Challenge,” a collaboration between the organizations to encourage environmentally friendly designs in the Bay Area.
Approximately twenty Academy students participated in the Sea Fashion Challenge which resulted in the design of such products as dresses, jackets, cushions, and a watch band.  An exhibit of the student creations is currently on display at Atelier, 79 New Montgomery St in San Francisco, and available to view online  where the public can vote on their favorites.

Academy of Art University

Photo by Bob Toy

Prizes will be awarded to the winning designs, including a “Feeding Frenzy Tour” of the Aquarium for the First Place team, which includes a chance to serve breakfast to the animals; a Behind the Scenes Tour for the Second Place team; and 2 tickets to the Aquarium for each member of the Third Place team.

“The banners were so beautiful hanging in the Hyatt lobby, we were sorry to see them come down,” said Mimi Hahn, the Aquarium’s vice president of marketing. “We’re thrilled to have found a way not only to reuse them, but also to have them made into something unique and beautiful. Hopefully, the fashions inspire a connection to the oceans for the students who created them and people who see them.”

Look who won the Green Fashion Competition at Amsterdam Fashion Week. For more on recycling as art, magic and amusement.

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