Hosted for 5 consecutive years, DiscarDisco is The WasteShed’s fabulous trash fashion show competition and primary fundraising event.

DiscarDisco designers create full wearable runway looks based on mystery boxes of WasteShed supplies. With support from our partner organization, Apparel Industry Board INc (AIBI), designers document their processes and creations, and are selected to participate in a live runway show where our contestants get to show off their final designs amidst a crowd of other fashion- and sustainability-frenzied Chicagoans. 

DiscarDisco

Past events

  • Runway model poses in dress made of recycled materials

    2020: Beginning

    Our first DiscarDisco premiered in February, 2020, at Chop Shop in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood.

  • Model wearing fashion and posing outdoors for virtual runway

    2021: 'Distant' DiscarDisco

    Seventeen artists from Chicago and beyond competed for cash prizes and titles entirely remotely. This show was broadcast LIVE online, viewers could watch and comment live, and vote for People’s Choice for Best Design.

  • 2022: Detritus Danceteria

    In February of 2022, we returned to the runway and airwaves with a hybrid show DiscarDisco: Detritus Danceteria. 27 designers walked the runway at The Beat Kitchen in Chicago.

  • 2023: Rags to Riches

    In April of 2023, DiscarDisco had a glow-up! Our 4th annual sustainable sartorial soiree, Rags to Riches, was a massive hit! Designer contestant finalists showcased their ‘garbage garb’ to a SOLD OUT show! We had 222 people in attendance at The Chicago Athletic Association’s ballroom overlooking Michigan Ave.

  • 2024: PatchWERK

    Designers, amateur and professional, entered our competition by unboxing a box of mystery 'trash' fabrics and notions selected from The WasteShed’s creative reuse center inventory. To qualify for the spotlight at DiscarDisco 2024: PatchWERK, they had just a few months to design and construct full runway looks using those materials.

Press Release - DiscarDisco 2024: The WasteShed’s 5th Annual Trash Fashion Show

Chicago Reader Feature by Julia Lowe

The WasteShed on The Rundown Podcast

PRESS