The Sustainable Strut
Film B&W by Dillon Ingold.
As the creative director and founder of the production, I am the chief event coordinator and communications manager. For each production I coordinated the event space rental, run of show, communications between models and designers, communications with community partners and managed the social media promotion of the event.In the final production in 2025, I took the challenge on of styling a collection. My collection titled, "Framed for Fame" can be seen below.
Scroll to see images from each production.
The Sustainable Strut is a student-based fashion show designed to highlight the importance of ethical, eco-friendly fashion. It’s an eccentric celebration of conscious curators and creatives alike.
The show features the design and styling expertise of various student designers and student organizations, and has prompted a collaboration between various student organizations and community partners, like Dress For Success. Additionally, the Strut acts as an avenue for creative expression of dissent to local and widespread environmental justice issues. In 2024, for instance, the show showcased designers protesting UNC’s coal-fired power plant, a key environmental injustice at the heart of Chapel Hill. This crucial setting encourages students to practice conscious consumption while recognizing the social impact of environmental degradation.
At the Strut, we’ve always held community and diversity at the heart of our production, and over time we’ve curated a space full of different personalities, backgrounds, and stories. The different perspectives we all contribute to this event is truly what makes it so special and continues to create a comfortable space for all communities, particularly those of marginalized groups who have not had such experiences prior.
The show launched in 2023 as a passion project within the UNC Undergraduate Student Government’s EA branch. Everything showcased is sustainably sourced, either through thrifting or upcycling. Some designers even feature handmade collections that they have curated. The Strut has engaged with on-campus publications, like Coulture and the Daily Tar Heel. The Strut has also been featured in the Triangle Blog Post.
All sorts of folks gather together from this event, from students to families and all that in between. The Strut is a community for students to step out of their comfort zone and encourage a movement towards monumental change in the fashion industry. The garment industry is one of the leading contributors in environmental degradation through emissions, water usage and waste. With the rise of fast fashion and trend culture on the rise, now more than ever, we must band together to promote ethical consumption.
The show is a collection of second hand, upcycled and handmade garments. I like to think of this show as a showcase of rebirth. I’ve been constantly blown away by the talented people who have curated such unique visions with sustainability at the heart of their projects. The Strut challenges its audience to evaluate their consumer motivations, the way their environmental activism reflects on your lifestyles and to question the societal norm. We don't have to live in a world that thrives off the destruction of others and our planet.