DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — The fashion industry creates a lot of waste. It’s responsible for large amounts of carbon emissions, pollution in oceans and landfills, and water consumption. A local effort aims to re-purpose and inform the public in a fun way.
In a studio in Delray Beach’s Arts Warehouse, fashion designer Amanda Perna’s personality is splashed across every inch.
“My inner child is like singing every day,” she said.
She loves color and texture.
“I always say this is my place to come make a mess.”
Wearing one of her own colorful designs, she is playing with piece of vintage fabric, draping it around a mannequin and pinning it in place. She calls it “fabric sculpting.”
In her design process, Perna says she aims to use every last piece of fabric when possible. “We’ll make scrunchies or we’ll make bowties,” she said. “Some of it turns into kids clothes now.”
She also uses 50-year-old vintage fabrics in some of her designs, and hand-dyes pieces only as new orders come in so there is only as much sewn as needed.
Perna is one of several local artists, designers and well-known faces to participate in Resource Depot’s Refashion weekend. They are reimagining a jacket into a new piece of wearable art.
“Maybe the jacket turns into a dress because you use the pieces of this and add something and now you have a skirt,” Perna said.
The auction of the jackets will benefit Resource Depot, which sustainability and creativity, allowing you to buy donated supplies for pennies on the dollar. WPTV NewsChannel 5 anchor Ashleigh Walters is also creating a piece for auction.
