What to know about ‘Wasteworlds’, the six-hour runway coming to Melbourne

“I guess what I really want is for people to not feel so alone in dystopia.”

In 2019, the creative group Fast Fashun dumped 1000kg of clothing waste in a towering cube behind Melbourne’s bustling Arts Centre complex. It wasn’t just a statement about the 300,000 tonnes of discarded textiles Australians send to landfill every year, it was a chance for visitors to rummage through the used, damaged and otherwise forgotten pieces, make something new and hit the runway.

Led by friends Sebastian Berto and Teneille Clerk (aka Tenfingerz), Fast Fashun has been a proud industry disruptor from its inception, dedicating six years to “destroying runway culture”. Beginning with that first Arts Centre show, the pair has continued to stage interactive performances, engaging audiences around the reality of fast fashion’s contribution to the global climate crisis. 

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An annual highlight is the Met(ric Tonne of Waste) Gala, taking place on the first Monday in May. Its DIY red carpet features looks created from clothing waste and industrial safety pins.

“I’d been producing underground runway shows for seven years,” Teneille tells me. “We started them back in 2012 in a warehouse in Brunswick with a runway made from milk crates and recycled wood. [We] showcased ethically and sustainably made clothes, but punters were still just rocking up, sitting there and consuming. It did not feel progressive at all… So we created our first Fast Fashun event.”

The duo’s upcoming show might just be its most ambitious undertaking yet. A standout in Melbourne Fringe Festival’s Curated Program, Wasteworlds: Non-Stop Runway Show will be a six-hour spectacle held at Abbotsford Convent on Saturday, October 4. Created in collaboration with Melbourne puppetry group Snuff Puppets and Vitae Veritas, a not-for-profit specialising in creating inclusive, accessible arts theatre, Wasteworlds promises a catwalk experience like no other. 

Set in a post-apocalyptic 2125, the Non-Stop Runway Show will take place in a towering-textile-wasteland-turned-fashion-arena. “I’m obsessed with dystopian fiction,” Teneille explains. “While devising the concept for Wasteworlds, I was reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and also bingeing The 100 for the second time. So it’s heavily influenced by the classics, but also by contemporary trash.

 

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“It’s also inspired by waste colonialism,” she continues. “By the mounds of clothing waste in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, and by the mountains and tentacles of fast fashion that wash up on the beaches of Ghana.” While Teneille is hesitant to give too much away, guests can expect clothing strewn across Abbotsford Convent’s Magdalen Laundry, ready to be pinned, sewn, tied, torn and draped into upcycled haute couture. 

The clothing itself has been donated by Sacred Heart Mission, a Melbourne charity with op shops dotted around the city. “For context, about 60 per cent of what is donated to them by the public is unable to be sold… sometimes it’s because people are donating something that is not in good condition, like ripped, pilled, stained or broken [items],” Teneille says. “But the reality of the situation is that op shops are overwhelmed with donations. The world is overwhelmed with clothes.”

Sewing machines will be available throughout the space, with fabric-scissor-wielding artists ready to assist at any moment. There will also be a live poet providing an interactive audio description and “commentary on the chaos” throughout the event. “We’re really focused on continually creating more access for audiences,” Teneille explains. “Fast Fashun is made up of queer and neurodiverse artists. We centre those experiences as the norm and from that place, everyone is welcome.”

Turning the traditional notions of a high fashion runway inside out, Wasteworlds: Non-Stop Runway is made for all ages, bodies and access needs. While walking the runway is encouraged, Teneille assures there’s no wrong way to show up. “You can come… and make a look to wear on the non-stop runway. Or you can just sit back and watch the chaos unfold.”

 

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Growing up as a self-professed “feral kid from the outer burbs”, it was Teneille’s early experiences working in fashion that spurred her to do something unconventional. “I definitely felt like an imposter and never really fit into the scene,” she says. “These experiences made me reject mainstream fashion and seek out other ferals who love fashion. It led to those runways in warehouses. It made me get creative with how I interact with fashion and how I share the experience with others.”

While Wasteworlds deals with heavy themes like climate grief and consumerism, The Non-Stop Runway is a celebration of clothing in all its weird, wonderful, deconstructed and cobbled-together forms. “I’m not naive enough to think that throwing a fashion event is going to change the world,” Teneille says. “But it is a nice place to be for a moment, to look at some interesting things, to get creative, to contemplate your own complex relationship with clothing… and to feel a sense of connection with the community… I guess what I really want is for people to not feel so alone in dystopia.”

Wasteworlds: Non-Stop Runway will be held on Saturday, October 4 across three sessions: 12pm, 2pm and 4pm. Get your tickets here.