Grapevine's Meow Wolf Celebrates First Anniversary With Trash on the Runway

Early Thursday evening, Meow Wolf Grapevine held its inaugural “Trashion Show” to celebrate its one-year anniversary.

The art space, spawned from the world-famous Meow Wolf in New Mexico, offers a wildly innovative standalone art experience (with wild clues hidden throughout). To celebrate its first year in Grapevine, the venue put on a runway show that sought to combine sustainability with high fashion and encouraged designers to celebrate their unique self-expression in an eco-friendly style.

The Trashion Show kicked off with emcee Vivienne Vermouth, who graced the stage with a bright purple wig and a multicolored leotard. She announced the show would feature eight designers and three burlesque performances.

Dev Developpe, a burlesque dancer who traveled from Houston, dazzled the crowd with her beaded accessories, littered with handwritten notes, and with a complex headpiece fashioned with ribbon, yarn and pom-poms. Designer Jamie Kulikowski followed, wearing her “737 pockets” design, featuring items donated by Meow Wolf's sponsor, Southwest Airlines. The second design, “2003 Garage Sale,” created by Cliffside Flowers and Ghost Girl Studio, spotlights the electronic waste filling landfills and new technological advancements in communication and entertainment. It was composed of old Nokia phones, chunky cords and an old monitor. Model Jane Ortiz quickly followed wearing a long train of trash bags. The designer, Ben Arevalo, was inspired by the joy of getting weekly groceries from the store as if it were “the best gift ever received in life.” Arevalo utilized grocery bags, frozen grocery trash and old chip bags to represent “the heaviness a grandmother gets from a good grocery haul.” The fourth designer, Elsie Garcia, strayed from literal trash fashion and instead created a piece using discarded items from retail stores and bridal shops. Her work included leftover fabrics, old makeup packaging and discarded jewelry resulting in “sustainable and gender-fluid fashion.” “Body of Treasure” was intended to celebrate “not just the beauty of the garment but also the beauty of sustainability, individuality and self-care.”Vivienne Vermouth excitedly returned to the stage as she announced the next guest.

“One of my favorite things ever is to introduce Onyx to an audience who does not know what to expect,” Vermouth said. "Now you'll know why the front row of my shows sells out.” She was right. The crowd roared as Onyx performed an elaborate routine full of delicate props and an impressive amount of headstands.
After his performance, Southwest Senior Corporate Responsibility Program Manager Anna Schwager paused the show and selected a couple of audience members to compete in a “catwalk competition.” Two brave souls strutted across the stage as the crowd cheered them on. In the end, both contestants were rewarded with free Southwest tickets to a destination of their choosing. The show resumed with a design from T. Fawn titled, “Free to Be Me.” Her design paid tribute to the girls and women in Southeast Asia who labored to create the T-shirts. The designer said she feels a connection to them while acknowledging her privilege. Her work “encapsulates the sheer joy she felt receiving free T-shirts growing up as a low-income child and refugee. It's a celebration of her intersectional identity.” Her model walked and twirled across the stage, invigorating the crowd as they scrambled to catch the free T-shirts she tossed in the air.


The next designer, Nadia Velazquez, created “Disco Tech” out of her love for lights, music and sci-fi designs. Her model, Katie Kane, wore an aluminum dress decked out with plastic sleeves and an old speaker for the centerpiece. The show closed with the final design, Marisol Lopez’s “Party Animal,” inspired by her love and nostalgia for piñatas. The crowd hooted and hollered as her model pranced across the stage. They chanted “encore, encore, encore!” until they lost their breath. It's safe to say, they’ll all be back next year.