At the end of last month, happy food boxes became amazing trains that arrive at the University of St. Thomas in Miami Gardens. Hamburger wrappers were considered tulle for flowing dresses. Even the fried boxes were turned into thick, wearable pieces.
The show was part of the third “McDCouture” show, a collaboration with McDonald’s and the university’s business fashion and design program, where 12 students spent a year making clothes out of the fast food chain’s materials.
“McDonald’s uses a lot of products and resources and is very wasteful,” said Taekwonda Pearman, a fashion and business major at the University of St. Thomas. “So we take it and we reinvent it and do whatever we can to make it creative.”
Pearman said design has always been a part of her life — she even designed her own prom dress in high school. He said that the work of making the dress was scary at first.
“I was looking at the models they had in the fashion lab, and I was amazed at how they were able to put all those pieces together,” Pearman said. “Because you have burger wrappers, straws, cardboard boxes, you have a lot of materials and they are very difficult.”
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But he said this project helped him become a strong designer.
He said: “I learned your first plan as a designer, it never works, so you’ll start doing freestyles. Maybe everything won’t be as you thought, but everything works out the way it was supposed to in the end.
South Florida McDonald’s franchise owner Bryan Bentancourt and his wife, Stefanie Cabrera Bentancourt, told WLRN the first McDCouture event was held in 2014 in Miami Beach. It was started as a great opportunity to open the new McDonald’s Lincoln Road location, and invited students from Miami International University of Art & Design to make clothes.
But that plan soon changed.
“So what we didn’t realize was what went down on the runway the first day,” says Bryan. “We thought, ‘We have to take this to the next level.’ It won’t just be in our reception area, because these kids, they have talent – they just need exposure.
The following year, McDCouture debuted at Funkshion Fashion Week in Nov. 5, where it was adopted by Shine and Cosmopolitan. And in 2017, the show appeared on Miami Swim Week featuring 20 swimsuits made of McDonald’s material.
Stefanie emphasized the purpose of the event “to reuse and recycle”.
“It’s amazing what a little imagination can do with something that would be trash to anyone,” he said.
Most of the ingredients used come directly from the restaurant, including scraps that would otherwise have been thrown away, he said.
“They were able to use the sriracha sauce, which was chopped up, and make a spiky dressing out of it,” he said.
Rood Lindor, a major fashion retailer, was born in Okai, Haiti, where he says he was first influenced by the design and creativity of Haitian clothing. He also emphasized the importance of recyclable materials.
“The fashion industry is one of the most destructive industries at work,” she said. “It’s good for us to take care of our planet, and, you know, to be able to save money, to recycle, and to be able to use natural fabrics, natural products.”
According to the United Nations, 92 million tons of textile waste are produced worldwide each year.
After the March 26 show, McDonald’s store owners voted for their favorite design, with the winner receiving a $1,000 prize.
This year, that distinction went to Ignacio Lopez, a fashion sales major. One of the first things he did after winning was call his parents in Spain.
“My mother is a singer, so she was very happy,” he said. “Making my parents happy is probably my biggest goal here.”
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