Mesquite, Texas, resident Andrea Moreno, 19, poses on the runway during a fashion show Jan. 13 at the The Gallery at UTA in the Fine Arts Building. The Philosophy and Humanities Department hosted the show.
Nothing Ekjot Birdi wore on the runway was new — besides a pair of tights and leg warmers.
The dress had a fitted bodice that clung to Birdi’s waist and a pleated skirt of patchworked light pinks, black and striped fabric that shifted from side to side as she moved.
UTA alumna Ekjot Birdi, 23, poses in a UTA-inspired dress during a fashion show Jan. 13 at The Gallery at UTA in the Fine Arts Building. Birdi designed all the pieces displayed at the show.
Behind her, models followed in dresses, crop tops and skirts cut from similar garments and donated fabrics. Each piece carried a previous life, now sewn into a new look.
On Jan. 13, The Gallery at UTA was transformed as Birdi, a UTA alumna, debuted a handmade collection at an event hosted by the Department of Philosophy and Humanities. She wanted her show to inspire creativity in the audience, Birdi said.
The collection included 10 looks, some constructed from a pile of striped shirts found in a donation box left by Maninder Kaur, Birdi’s mother.
“The way that they were laid out on top of each other — the reds and blacks sitting through one another, and the fact that there was a uniformity to them, a through line — that inspired me,” Birdi said to the audience. “ That inspired me.”
Dallas-Fort Worth resident Brooke Freeman, 20, struts on the runway during a fashion show Jan. 13 at The Gallery at UTA in the Fine Arts Building. Freeman participated in the show because of her friendship with UTA alumna Ekjot Birdi.
Once she filled in drawings, Birdi headed to a thrift store, making sure to pick garments that fit into the color scheme and were made of 100% cotton. She updated her sketches with the available materials and sewed the pieces together, bringing her ideas to fruition.
“Every piece in this collection is something I genuinely love,” Birdi said.
The models wearing Birdi’s designs shared a similar sentiment. “I feel great in this,” said Grionna Grar, model for EKB Designs. “I think it fits me very well.”
Eli Shupe, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Humanities, said the approach that Birdi took to create her pieces was a very conscious choice.
“In the world of high fashion, that’s one of the only places in which that culture of bespoke individualization still exists,” Shupe said. “It’s cool to be able to bring that to campus.”
Mesquite, Texas, resident Andrea Moreno, 19, walks down the runway during a fashion show Jan. 13 at The Gallery at UTA in the Fine Arts Building. Moreno said she has worked with Ekjot Birdi in the past on the runway.
Birdi said sustainability was central to her creative process, noting that the average American throws away 80 pounds of clothing per year. Repurposing materials, she said, helps reduce waste that often ends up in landfills or is shipped overseas, contributing to pollution in other countries.
“All people have an interest of protecting the planet that we all share,” she said. “What’s the point of buying something new when there’s already perfectly good materials out there?”
Sustainability extends beyond materials — it is all-encompassing.
Jessica Ciarla, associate professor of instruction in the Division of Textiles and Apparel at UT Austin, said it touches on design, distribution and labor.
“Sustainability is really about thinking about a product and how it can become circular, but also a human-centered approach where no one is getting hurt in the process of making the garments or wearing the garments,” Ciarla said.
While Birdi’s collection represents one designer’s approach, Ciarla said sustainability in fashion requires broader participation.
“It has to be this kind of communal understanding that we want to coexist in a healthy place and not ruin our world,” she said. “We have to all agree to it and commit to it and work together to accomplish it.”
That philosophy was reflected in the final moments on the runway.
The models returned in a single line, followed by Birdi wearing a UTA-style dress made from the same repurposed material.
“Working with what you have does not limit you — you are still limitless,” Birdi said.
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