The Sonoma Community Center’s most popular event is back and celebrating fifteen years of fashion, art, and environmental sustainability. The Trashion Fashion Runway Show returns to the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall for two shows on Saturday, April 19th, at 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Tickets will be available to SCC members beginning Tuesday, March 11th, and will open to the general public on Thursday, March 13th.

What began as a one-time idea for a showcase quickly evolved into an annual event for ages nine to ninety-nine. The Trashion Fashion Runway Show grew in popularity so fast that it had to be moved from its original home in Andrews Hall to the largest venue in Sonoma, the Veterans Memorial Hall.

Since its start, Earth Day has grown into Earth Month, and the Trashion Fashion Runway Show has grown into Trashion Fashion Month every April. The annual events have inspired a new Sustainability Department at the Center led by Molly Spencer. Winter is full of workshops and open studios around trashion design, and other events throughout the year encourage eco-friendly habits such as free clothing swaps in partnership with Refill Madness.

“Fifteen years is a huge milestone,” said Molly Spencer, Director of the Trashion and Sustainability Program at the Center. “It’s amazing to see how Trashion Fashion Sonoma has grown into such a recognized event in Northern California and beyond.”

Over forty artists will design fashions from recycled, unconventional materials. Among those designers is the event’s founder, Margaret Hatcher, who was recently named 2025 Treasure Artist of the Year by the City of Sonoma Cultural and Fine Arts Commission. Hatcher’s design is sure to be a show stopper, and this year’s event will also bring participants weaving Sonoma International Film Festival lanyards, crocheting soda pop tops, and doing something curious with used power cords.

“In a time that feels, dare I say, a bit rubbish, Trashion Fashion is a powerful, celebratory, and much needed yet fun reminder that anyone can take the trash around us and turn it into treasure,” said Spencer Morton, Outreach and Education Coordinator. “It is more than just trash being made into fashion. It is a community celebrating the process of reinvention and reimagining a better world together by facing our daily waste.”

Trashion Fashion doesn’t only rock the runway, the Center’s Gallery 212 will feature dolls rescued from landfills. A plastic doll will often take twenty to possibly 500 years to decompose. The “Barbies, Kens, and Friends” Exhibit and Auction is an opportunity to reclaim and reinvent these dolls to give them new life. All submissions will be on display through Saturday, April 26th, and back by popular demand, the silent auction will take place online.

An opening reception for “Barbies, Kens, and Friends” will kick off Trashion Fashion Month on Thursday, April 3rd, from 5:00-7:30 p.m., when Sonoma Community Center is the host venue for Sonoma Art Walk. During the party, the bidding for the online auction will begin. Also celebrating its opening that night will be an exhibit in the “Causeway Gallery,” the Center’s dedicated space in the upstairs hallway to feature artworks that raise awareness of important issues in our community and beyond. Printmaker Carolyn Corbett will exhibit prints created from repurposed trash such as bags, packaging, and other random materials.

Wrapping up Trashion Fashion’s month of events is the annual Trash Bash. On Saturday, April 26th, the community is invited for a free post-runway celebration at the Center from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to see the Trashion Runway designs up close, place final bids on Barbies, and enjoy food, fashion, and fun! Runway show awards will also be awarded including the popular Republic of Thrift People’s Choice winner.

“Barbies, Kens, and Friends” Gallery Exhibit and Auction in Gallery 212 and Carolyn Corbett’s Exhibit in the Causeway Gallery will be on display from Thursday, April 3rd through Saturday, April 26th. The Trashion Fashion Runway show will take place on Saturday, April 19th at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall in two shows: 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., the latter including a meet and greet with the designers after the show. The Trash Bash is a free community celebration at the Center on Saturday, April 26th from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A wide variety of sponsorship opportunities are available in support of Trashion Fashion Events. Those interested should contact MC Cutcliffe, SCC Development Director at (707) 931-4289 or mc@sonomacommunitycenter.org. For runway show tickets and more information, visit TrashionFashionSonoma.org or call (707) 938-4626. The Sonoma Community Center is located at 276 East Napa Street. All proceeds from Trashion Fashion events support the Center’s arts and educational programming.

Photo shown: “I Call My Sugar Candy,” Designed by Margaret Hatcher, Modeled by Lisa Rani Horn, 2020 Trashion Fashion Online