The London Public Library is hosting the premiere screening of From Thrift to Runway: The Upcycled Effect on Monday night. The film is a short documentary that showcases Fanshawe College fashion design students who turned thrifted and upcycled clothes into runway-ready looks.
The 10-minute film was directed by Nahlia Loren Couto. She is a filmmaker and a professor in the fashion design program. She said the project was born out of her sabbatical studies in sustainable fashion and film.
“I really understood how important it was to be engaging and collaborative,” Couto said. “When I came back, I wanted to engage my students in that kind of really meaningful community-driven project.”
Over 12 months, first-year fashion design students were filmed as they redesigned garments, scoured thrift shops, and presented their work at community events. This included a downtown market fashion show and a campus clothing swap.
Couto said the film emphasizes both joy and accessibility.
“It’s the accessibility that anyone can have to shift the way in which they shop,” she said. “We don’t want it to feel like a typical environmental film, like ‘do better, doom and gloom.’ We’ve actually taken it from the perspective of youth and joy and hopefulness.”
The documentary is part of Sustainable Fashion Week Canada.
It is in collaboration with Musey, a local social enterprise, providing support. Musey offered space for the screening and contributed funds for students to purchase thrifted materials.
Couto said she hopes the film challenges perceptions of secondhand clothing.
“You would think that they spent thousands of dollars,” she said. “They look like high fashion on those runways.”
The Upcycled Effect screens at 7 p.m. at the Central branch library on Dundas Street, followed by a student Q&A session.
