Miami – Design and Architecture Senior High School (DASH) just held a Sustainability Design contest and Ariel was awarded first place for her up-cycled plastic dress. Her winning garment will be featured during Art Basel Miami 2018 at the Istituto Marangoni Miami as part of a sustainability installation. It will appear alongside the works of many renowned international fashion designers.

To create her award-winning design, Ariel spent over a month creating this garment by using plastic bottles that she had collected. She created her own “machine” to turn the plastic bottles into “ribbon” which she sewed onto an iridescent organza. She also recycled a pair of old shoes to create the outfits’ boots by adding her plastic bottle fabric and soda can tabs.

Ariel is thrilled to have won DASH’s sustainability competition which was open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Judges included Mr. Mario Braghieri from the Istituto Marangoni Miami along with The UpCycle Project Miami founder Ms. Gabriella Smith and Ms. Giovanna Sorondo from the fashion design department at DASH.