For the fourth year in a row, I am participating in the Haute Trash Fashion Show in Nelson, BC. Alongside friends and collaborators, we formed Les Matantes, a collective dedicated to creating garments from post-consumer waste for the runway. Several of our pieces were awarded second place and were later exhibited at the Nelson Museum, Archives and Gallery.
Collaborators : Véronique Trudel, Alexandra Tremblay, Marie-Claude Bouchard
Haute Trash Fashion Show - Les Matantes
The garment above, worn by my-self, was constructed entirely from discarded materials: a skirt made from an old bedsheet layered with worn and hole-ridden socks; a bodice assembled from neckties; and accessories including a purse and jewelry made from playing cards. The process was highly collaborative and playful, marked by laughter and improvisation, emphasizing joy, experimentation, and collective authorship.
Post-consumer materials
2023
Image by Alisha Kastrukoff a.k.a. eh.leesh
Image by Alisha Kastrukoff a.k.a. eh.leesh
Image by Alisha Kastrukoff a.k.a. eh.leesh
Sugar Wrap, modelled by Marie-Paule Berthiaume, is an ensemble composed of slacks, a sleeveless vest, a bow tie, and a top hat, constructed entirely from candy wrappers collected after Halloween from our children and the local French school. The structural base was formed using larger plastic packaging materials, over which the wrappers were meticulously layered by color — transitioning from red and yellow to metallic foils, orange, white, brown, and blue. The formal silhouette, combined with the symbolic top hat and bow tie, evokes business attire and wealth, drawing a parallel to systems of power that consume far beyond necessity.
Post-consumer materials
2024
The Dress of Christmas Future, also worn by me, is constructed from broken string lights, with the colored bulbs separated from the wires. The wires were woven into a skirt, while the bulbs were arranged into a sash resembling a bandolier due to their scale and perpendicular placement. This near-warrior aesthetic contrasts sharply with the festive materials, suggesting tension between celebration and destruction. The title gestures toward the idea of a future worth fighting for, asking whether traditions of excess can be reimagined into acts of responsibility and care.
Post-consumer materials
2023
Image by Alisha Kastrukoff a.k.a. eh.leesh
This collaborative garment, showcased by Marie-Clade Bouchard, was created from an abandoned camping tent and fragments of a damaged dry suit to address the casual disposal of recreational equipment. The work draws attention to a growing culture in which inexpensive gear is purchased for short-term leisure — particularly music festivals and tourist hiking destinations — and then discarded rather than packed out. By transforming these materials into a functional dress, the piece reframes waste as both evidence and resource.
The dress is fully sewn and structurally wearable.Transparency from the tent’s screen fabric is used in the upper portion of the garment, introducing a delicate visual contrast to the heavier layered skirt below. The lower section is composed of multiple flowing panels, producing strong movement and emphasizing the garment’s theatrical presence.
Humor plays a subtle role in the work. Our collective name, Les Matantes, contains a francophone pun: tante (aunt) and tente (tent) are homophones in French. This linguistic overlap adds a playful self-awareness to the piece while reinforcing the conceptual link between domestic identity, collective creation, and reclaimed shelter.
Post-consumer materials
2025