Prom Closet Santa Fe

Reducing single-use prom dresses

Background Information

The fashion industry is facing the challenge of its environmental impact, with issues such as excessive waste, pollution, and the use of non-renewable resources. The plastic-based materials that make up most prom dresses break up into microplastics and end up in the ocean, and many different environments around the world, severely harming it.
Linnea recognized these issues within the fashion industry, specifically with the use of prom dresses, and decided to do something about it. She found that prom dresses, which are essentially single-use items that are expensive, but not accessible to everyone, get wasted after one wear and likely never worn again.  Her school had done prom dress drives in the past to support local high school students who could not afford Prom dresses of their own, but Linnea decided to implement her project in the name of the environment. While at Alzar, she took Environmental Science and learned all about how our planet is being destroyed by the fashion industry, even the companies that claim to be eco-friendly.  Linnea wanted to raise awareness and ensure that she could slow the process of clothing overconsumption during the prom season in her hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Implementation of Project

To begin her project, Linnea set up a clothing rack in the lobby of her school and made announcements in the all-school assemblies announcing that people should bring in their old dresses. She also joined the LEOs club at my school and they were happy to assist her with her project, modeling dresses, making announcements with her, and helping reach out to people about dresses.  She quickly learned that people hold onto their prom dresses for long periods of time, and because of that fact that, she received many outdated dresses and even dresses with holes and tears.  Still, Linnea acquired about twenty dresses in a variety of sizes that were fashionable and that she was excited about finding new homes for. Over fifteen girls ended up modeling the dresses she collected during the prom dress drive and the action team spent six, forty-five minute long club periods working on the prom closet.

Results of Project

Linnea’s original plan for the project was to set up an event where she handed out the dresses at a local consignment store, but due to complicated schedules and differing prom dates, that did not end up happening.  She pivoted to an Instagram page where posted the pictures of the girls in her action team modeling the dresses and anyone who was interested could reach out through a Direct Message and we would coordinate the dress delivery.  The day before Linnea posted the dresses, a faculty member at the local community college reached out to her asking if they could take the dresses to add to their new closet where they would be supplying free clothes to Santa Fe families.  In the end, Linnea first reached out around her school and donated about nine dresses to girls there who were interested and then she gave the rest to the closet at the community college.

What’s Next

Linnea hopes to continue spreading awareness about the issues associated with the fashion industry and using her voice to spread awareness about harm to the environment and other issues that matter to her.  Her goal is to get other people in her community excited about up-cycling and reusing clothing to slow the effects of climate change and the norm of overconsumption in fashion. LEOs club was excited enough about the prom closet that they agreed to continue running a prom dress drive at Linnea’s school and redistributing dresses around northern New Mexico.

“I hope to spread awareness about global issues that matter to me to my immediate community by using my voice and getting involved in groups that also care about global issues.” – Linnea Farrell