Some like it haute: Fashion show with eco twist closes out Festival of Arts’ final weekend

Organizers of Laguna Beach’s Festival of the Arts and Pageant of the Masters celebrated the final weekend of their months-long extravaganza Sunday with an event that challenged artists to design and assemble haute couture creations with an eco-friendly twist.

The 13th annual Festival Runway Fashion Show featured a competition among festival exhibitors tasked with creating outfits that used reclaimed, reused or recycled materials befitting the theme “Creative Couture.”

That theme came to sparkling life as models strutted down the runway in ensembles featuring tennis balls, plastic bags, flowers and cat food lids. Top prizes of $1,000 were awarded in four categories that honored the most creative, well built and elegant creations.

Artists and models pose for a group picture after the Festival Runway Fashion Show at the Festival of Arts on Sunday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Participants in Sunday’s show were able to submit ballots for their favorite designer in consideration for a fifth prize, the highly coveted “People’s Choice Award.”

“Like [Bravo TV show] ‘Project Runway,’ our competition is exciting, showcasing the imaginative creations of our talented artists,” Festival of Arts Marketing and Public Relations Director Sharbie Higuchi said in a statement ahead of the event.

Sponsored by Fashion Island in Newport Beach, the contest was hosted by film production designer Nelson Coates, whose credits include “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Fifty Shades Freed,” “Flight” and “The Proposal.”

Model Kayla Johnson wears a dress Sunday created by artist Rowan Foley, titled “Art Colony,” made entirely from paper pieces collected from festival artists at the Festival of Arts.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

After much consideration a panel of three judges — Laguna Beach artist and costume and set designer Gerard Basil Stripling, award-winning costume designer Salvador Perez and fashion executive, textile designer, documentary producer and creative director Suzi Chauvel — selected their top picks.

Painter Elizabeth McGhee won for “Most Innovative Use of Materials” for her 1950s-style Bubble Dress, which she modeled herself. The piece used single-use plastic bags shrouded by bubble wrap meant to evoke artist George Seurat’s pointillistic dots. A crowd favorite, the dress also nabbed this year’s “People’s Choice Award.”

Mixed-media artist Jayne Dion wowed the crowd with a dress crafted from screen doors, can pull tabs, trash bags, bed sheets and crepe paper party streamers assembled in the style of Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, a portrait artist known for depicting Marie Antoinette. Dion took home the prize for “Most Creative Concept.”

A dress designed by painter Nancy Swan and made of mylar balloons and breakfast bar wrappers is worn by model Alicia Dunkin at the Festival Runway Fashion Show Sunday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Nancy Swan swept the category of “Most Glamorous & Elegant Red Carpet-worthy Creation” for her Gilded Age gown, crafted from Mylar balloons, trash bags and hand-painted wrappers from 1,277 breakfast bars eaten by Swan and saved since 2020.

“Most Exciting Ensemble Inspired by a Famous Artist” went to pencil artist Rowan Foley, whose Rococo-style dress, rendered in the fashion of Marie Antoinette, was crafted entirely from paper art pieces contributed by fellow exhibitors.

The Festival of Arts Fine Art Show runs through Friday with a nightly performance of the 90th annual Pageant of the Masters. For more, visit foapom.com.

An outfit made from material collected from the Laguna Canyon Tennis Courts by artist Rick Graves and worn Sunday by model Tola Scotford in a fashion show at Laguna Beach’s Festival of Arts.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)