Eco-Couture was a juicy affair


Graduate student Amira Ajlouni recently turned recycling into a fashion statement.

She and more than 45 other FIU students reused, recycled and resurrected materials like garbage bags, magazines and electrical cable to fabricate 38 elegant and wild wardrobe additions.

Everything, including the runway, seats and overhead canopy, was made of recycled materials.

At the end of the show, the judges — local fashion designer Chia Ortegon and South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard — announced the three winners.

But the event was about more than winners and losers or whose dress was the most beautiful; it was about developing a consciousness toward recycling, which struck a chord with Giovanna Gallardo.

She said simply, “we throw away so much.”