This post was updated May 8 at 7:49 p.m.

Refine LA is bringing old clothes back to life in its upcoming “Decomposition” fashion show.

This sustainable fashion club will light up the Fowler Museum amphitheater at 8 p.m. on May 9 with a three-part show: life, decomposition and regrowth, according to event director Alina Beaman. The third-year statistics and data science student added that the show will display dozens of looks inspired by all three stages of life. Fourth-year art history and cognitive science student Mindy Luo, the president of Refine LA, said this theme was partially inspired by the recent Los Angeles County fires.

“When all the LA wildfires were happening, we saw so much destruction and so much decay around us, but now we’re seeing the springtime again,” Luo said. “I think everything ties together, like circular fashion is seeing the circle of life.”

Cece Yao, a third-year cognitive science student and product director of Refine LA, said all of the clothing and materials used in the show have been sourced secondhand. Designers also are incorporating other natural aspects in the physical composition of the clothing, such as branches, flower petals and other materials not traditionally highlighted in fashion shows, she said. She said they are using a lot of plants, fungi and animal prints to find more combinations in the patterns that occur naturally in the world.

“Decomposition is a very circular art of nature where you can take different things that are decomposed … and also interpret that as when clothes are at the end of the cycle,” Yao said. “You can recycle and resume them and create new things and maintain their beauty.”

Another special aspect of the show, according to Luo, is the venue itself. She said the club generally hosts their shows surrounded by nature to represent how fashion and the natural world can coexist and even amplify each other. This makes the show more than a show, she added, as it creates a memorable experience for attendees that will inspire them to take action in their own lives.

The club wants to not only promote secondhand shopping, Beaman said, but also encourage buying less clothing in general and instead repurposing items consumers already have. Beaman added that she has been involved in ethical fashion clubs since high school and has seen the rise of greenwashing, a marketing tactic where brands claim they have sustainable habits to exploit the values of their customers. She said she hopes Refine LA’s work can shift attention away from those fast-fashion brands and back to the closets people already have.

“In general, we always want, want, want more,” Beaman said. “But if people can just reduce their overall consumption – even if you’re thrifting a lot – I think it’s still good to reduce that, just for your own mental sake as well.”

Luo said she also hopes attendees use this show to think more critically about the purchases they make. There will be an educational pamphlet provided at the show that will teach audience members about the quantity of clothing that ends up in landfills and lines the shores of other countries, she said. She added that she hopes they can inspire people to stop using shopping as a creative outlet and instead start making clothes and alterations to get their creative itch out.

“They (consumers) have so much creative spirit that isn’t going where it’s supposed to go,” Luo said. “It’s just so sad that people only know how to express themselves these days through buying so many things. … Try making your own clothes or sewing or doing something else that’s creative. That’s actually more productive for our society.”

Refine LA hosts craft workshops for people inside and outside of the club, Luo said, where they teach students to upcycle clothes, sew and repurpose old looks. According to Yao, these crafting workshops offer everything from making key chains to designing looks for their fashion shows and usually occur in the UCLA MakerSpace.

As for other work, Luo said Refine LA also produces a zine every year that highlights sustainable businesses in LA, and they host flea markets on Bruin Walk, with clothing sourced from Goodwill bins. Beaman said they keep everything $10 and under to ensure that sustainable clothing is accessible to everyone, not just those who can spend more on clothing.

“Sustainability isn’t a limitation on creativity. In fact, for us, it’s a source of creativity,” Yao said. “Our creative process is so integrated with nature, and we take so much inspiration from nature and the earth.”