For Earth Day this year, we wanted to celebrate sustainability in a way that felt especially close to our hearts — something creative, thoughtful, and a little more Isy B. in spirit.
That’s why we were so proud to support the CIFEC Earth Day Trashion Show Project through the Isy B. Fund, an inspiring initiative brought to our panel by passionate educator and creative Sarah McDougall. The project invited students to look at fashion through a different lens, transforming thrifted finds, old materials, and even deadstock Isy B. bags into handmade runway pieces filled with imagination, personality, and care.
There was something so special about seeing these materials take on a second life. What may once have been overlooked became part of something expressive and entirely new. Even more beautiful was watching the students bring their own ideas and identities into each piece, creating garments that felt personal, playful, and full of character.
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As Sarah shared, one of the most meaningful parts of the project was seeing students let go of the pressure to be perfect. Instead, they learned to explore, to make mistakes, to try again, and to trust the creative process. That freedom opened the door for so much growth. Some students discovered new skills along the way — including one student who learned how to knit, made her own yarn from T-shirts, and used it to create a top. Others experimented with transforming jeans, ties, and other thrifted pieces into something completely unexpected.
What stood out most to Sarah, and to all of us, was how clearly each student’s personality shone through in the final designs. Every piece had its own mood, its own palette, its own little story. And that, to us, is where the real magic lives.
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The runway show on April 22 was a joyful celebration of Earth Day, reuse, and creative possibility. It wasn’t about perfection. It was about imagination, confidence, and seeing beauty in things that still have more to give. Sarah described the event as full of fun and joyful energy, and also as a moment of discovery for the students — encouraging them to think differently about the things around them and ask not just what something is, but what it could become.
We are so happy that Isy B. could play a small part in such a meaningful project, and so grateful to Sarah McDougall for bringing it to life with such heart. Through the Isy B. Fund, we will always love supporting initiatives like this — ones that encourage young people to create bravely, think differently, and find beauty in reinvention.
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The CIFEC Trashion Show was more than an Earth Day event. It was a reminder that creativity can give things a second life, and that when young people are given space to explore, wonderful things can happen.
A part of the Isy B. Fund initiatives.