On a recent Saturday evening, an eclectic group clad in technicolor patterns and bold silhouettes gathered around a massive velvet throne draped with baby dolls and pink feather boas. Electronic synths rippled from a DJ board at the back of the fuschia-lit space while the audience chattered and shifted in their seats, waiting.
Finally, Heather Anne, The Scrap Exchange’s executive director, addressed the room.
“The queens are here! We’re so blessed!” she announced.
In waltzed the evening’s hosts, Stormie Daie and Naomi Dix, and the crowd roared to life. The Scrap Exchange’s June 7 fundraiser and upcycled fashion show “Protect the Dolls: A Trashion Runway Event” had begun.
“Honey, a drag queen’s schedule during Pride is jam-packed!” said Dix, flipping her waist-length hair and batting her long eyelashes winningly. Daie, glitzed up from her iridescent thigh-high boots to her royal blue disco ball top, fluttered an oversized rainbow fan and struck a pose beside Dix.
Using only materials from The Scrap Exchange, nine local designers presented looks in three categories: Trashion, Doll Couture, and Upcycled. An audience vote decided the winners. Proceeds from the event went to the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice, Pride Durham, the LGBTQ Center of Durham, and to supporting The Scrap Exchange itself, a hub for donating and buying secondhand materials ranging from fabric to furniture to bottle caps.
“Yes, baby! Liberty and justice for all!” purred Daie as one model sporting blue lipstick, with red hand-prints on her arms and legs, flounced by in a frilled mini dress made of stitched-together American flags.
“Baby, you are giving us crow realness!” said Dix to another catwalker in a black ruffle-shoulder dress with a structured skirt fashioned from black-painted film cartridges. “Cross that Berlin wall and cut it in half!” added Daie.
Kicking off the Doll Couture segment, a model with voluminous honey-blond curls twinkled in a light-up skirt made of plastic cups from Crave Hot Dog and BBQ and a puffy sequined top resembling a spring bouquet. Another doll’s hips swayed inside a bottomless, bejeweled purple laundry basket.
According to designer Aja Pragana, the spirit of the show was subverting social norms while having a good time.
“Are you questioning my gender? Good,” she said in an interview after the show. “I’m gonna leave you questioning that and walk away, beautiful.”
“I personally am very heavy into femininity,” she added. “But it was very like, what is fun and what is whimsy and joy and excitement, and it wasn’t—I need to look a certain way.”
For many of the creators, the runway was also an opportunity to express themselves without financial constraints. “There’s so much about this capitalist world that just — it sucks,” said Marcus Dillard, a designer, model, and longtime Scrap Exchange employee. “But what’s important is that we as a community can gather together to help support each other, help us do what we love.”
At just 22, Marcus, who works as a cashier at The Scrap, has been sewing and making cosplay costumes for over a decade with his twin sister, Lorraine Dillard, who modeled his star-spangled ensemble during the show.
“It’s also really important to me to work at a place that represents my values,” said Marcus. “I mean, as a punk to the poor, I hate corporations. I hate that everything is expensive. I want people to be able to craft and make any art they desire, even though it’s become such an expensive hobby.”
Lorraine agreed. “Fashion and art is seen as something that’s expensive or, I guess, designated solely to the upper classes,” she said. “It’s ridiculous because, like, you can make art out of literally anything.”
As the Upcycled designs took the spotlight, Lorraine’s words rang true.
One model, styled by designer Anthony Davy as the “Solar Punk Sorceress,” strode down the runway brandishing a gauzy handmade umbrella, clad in a deep v-cut dress cinched with a braided maroon cord and embroidered with soda can tabs. Next was Lou Horton’s flowing pastel frock composed of abandoned knitting projects, baby yarn, and knitting needles. Tony Kershaw’s “Boy Toy” featured white pants embellished with brass chains and cut-outs from a floral swim cover-up.
Each look elicited a fresh wave of enthusiasm from the audience, but only one designer was crowned “Queen of the Scrapyard.”
“Bee is giving us mega-queen puppet, the power oil-smashing robot doll!” Dix said of Bee Mangine’s science fiction-themed collection.
In the end, Mangine’s anime-inspired Trashion piece stole the show, featuring tangled straps of wire and phone cords and a leather skirt tiled with laminated cartoon clippings. Mangine’s winning ensemble is on display through July 13 alongside other pieces from the show at The Scrap Exchange’s Cameron Gallery.
The night concluded with a final look at all the designers’ out-of-the-box creations. “Give it up for upcycle!” called Daie. The bass and the crowd boomed louder as 27 models sashayed by in a rainbow of revamped glam.
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