PRE-PACKAGED COUTURE: WINDOW DISPLAYS AT THE GATEWAY 2023
PRE-PACKAGED COUTURE: HIGH FASHION, GREAT VALUE!
Pre-Packaged Couture: High Fashion, Great Value! is a hand-sewn haute couture fashion line made entirely from various types of repurposed plastic bags and packaging by Utah artist, Adah Bennion. Taken from the former slogan of Walmart, “Everyday Low Prices, Great Value!” and presented as a series of department store window displays, the exhibition Pre-Packaged Couture: High Fashion, Great Value! seeks to define the subjective demarcation of material value while examining the lifespan and reusability of materials and waste generated on a daily basis by a consumer society obsessed with single use products, convenience, and fast fashion. Mimicking those worn by celebrities at the Met Gala, these repurposed-plastic garments probe at both the absurdity, spectacle, beauty, excess, time, energy, and material resources that go into extreme luxury and fashion, and the banal luxury of immediacy and convenience as a means to highlight the pervasive invisibility of the plastic that brings us our daily bread and that is seemingly encasing our very lives.
WALMART BAG DRESS
With an underdress made from heavy plastic film packaging, the outer layer of this gown features used Walmart shopping bags that were collected over several months by one household. Each bag has been carefully cut and sewn to mimic textures most often found in nature, such as the downy feathers of a bird or cornsilk.
FLAGSTONE PROTECTIVE SHIPPING MESH GOWN
MADE FROM HEAVY DUTY PLASTIC MESH THAT SERVED TO PROTECT AND CONTAIN LARGE FLAGSTONE PAVERS DURING TRANSIT AND A CLEAR PLASTIC SHIPPING BAG BODICE.
GREEN COFFEE SHIPPING BAG JACKET WITH CONFETTI-FLUFF COLLAR
JACKET MADE FROM HEAVY PLASTIC BAGS THAT ARE USED IN THE TRANSPORTATION OF BULK GREET COFFEE BEANS & CONFETTI-FLUFF COLLAR FILLER MADE FROM FOOD PACKAGING AND WRAPPERS.
BREADBAG GOWN
Detailed with an ornately crocheted top, this hand sewn dress features a detachable 10 ft. train and contains of over 700 translucent plastic bags that once held bread. The materials for this garment were collected over a four-month period from a local coffee shop.
HEAVY DUTY BLACK CONSTRUCTION BAG PANTS & BOMBER JACKET + FRUIT & VEGITABLE MESH DRESS
PANTS AND CROCHETED PIPING BOMBER JACKET SET MADE FROM SALVAGED HEAVY DUTY CONSTRUCTION BAGS & HALTER-TOP DRESS MADE FROM PRODUCE PACKAGING MESH
HEAVY DUTY CONSTRUCTION BAG BOMBER JACKET WITH CROCHETED PIPING (DETAIL)
CROCHETED PIPING BOMBER JACKET MADE FROM SALVAGED HEAVY DUTY CONSTRUCTION BAGS & HALTER-TOP DRESS MADE FROM PRODUCE PACKAGING MESH
SLEEVELESS SALAD BOX QUILT COAT
COAT MADE FROM HEAVY BULK PRODUCT SHIPPING BAGS WITH SALAD BOX QUILTBLOCK PATTERNING & SECONDHAND RED THREAD
SLEEVELESS SALAD BOX QUILT COAT (DETAIL)
COAT MADE FROM HEAVY BULK PRODUCT SHIPPING BAGS WITH SALAD BOX QUILTBLOCK PATTERNING & SECONDHAND RED THREAD
LIGHTWEIGHT BULK PRODUCT PACKAGING DRESS & CROCHETED LACE BREADBAG ADORNMENT
LIGHTWEIGHT LONGDRESS MADE FROM BULK PRODUCTS PACKAGING BAGS WITH CROCHETED BREADBAG LACE ADORNMENT