We had the pleasure of attending the sixth annual Discarded to Divine event at St. Mary’s Cathedral late last month. Not limited to fashion, but also including housewares and textiles, the evening began with a silent auction and culminated with a live runway show featuring garments from select designers. Over $100,000 raised during the evening’s festivities went to support the St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco and its programs for those experiencing poverty, homelessness and domestic violence.
Proving once again that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, each design was created using only discarded materials. The cocktail hour and silent auction kicked off the night, and the main fashion show followed. As the models walked the C-shaped runway, the dresses were auctioned off to the highest bidder. The designers added to the drama by taking the stage with the models and making last-minute adjustments to garments. Melissa Panages’ dress made from computer chips and Jill Giordano and Brian Scheyer’s dolman-sleeve ombre-dyed coat were the highlights of the show. Hopefully, we can all be inspired to look at the things in our closets in an entirely different way.
Scenes from the silent auction. Bottom right: Luggage Bag Blazer by Ryan Morar.
Top row (from left) St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco Executive Director Chris Cody with wife Marybeth Cody and guests Thatcher and Shannon Davis. Middle: Owen Buenaventura, Jill Giordano, Brian Scheyer, Melissa Panages, Alan Derwin and Mario Benton. Bottom row: Moya Stone, Y'Anad Burrell, Brandy Kuentzel, Apprentice Season 10 Winner Sushanta Bhandarkar, Epifany Sree and Naz Saeed from Zansus purses.
Mille-feuille by Tanja Milutinovic, Pei-Ju Lo, Shih-Wei Fang and Qian Xie
Patrick Meade of Bonhams and Butterfields auctioning off a strapless cocktail dress made using a tablecloth and velvet trim by Wesley Ito
The Dorothy Coat by Janice Paredes.
Tablecloth Dress by Wesley Ito
Anachronism Dress by Kelly Cercone.
Aphrodite Dress by Xiang Zhang and Yoorim Kim.
Chihuahua Day Jacket by Marianne Pearson. Modeled by Biggie.
Silk Print Monet by Ulises Alcala
Anastasia Coat by Olga Shor Design Studio.
Ombre Coat by gr. dano
Alchemy Triptych by Hansine Goran. Three-piece carpet made from factory surplus materials.
Galatea at Twilight Dress by Cari Borja
Ethereal Anti-Mass dress by Miranda Caroligne.
How the West Was Won Dress by Melissa Panages.
Photography by Christophe Tomatis
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