The Heart of Warren Wilson: Free Store’s Trashion Show is a Hit
Jonah Turner | April 14, 2026
Nestled amongst the old, muraled buildings at the bottom of the hill, Warren Wilson College (WWC) students gathered in front of the Free Store and old Conservation-Recycling Crew Warehouse last Friday evening for the Trashion Show.
Hosted by students, the event showcased various elements of student culture, and brought out Fiber Arts Crew, Student Activities, Holden Arts Crew and the Climate Action Planning Crew.
Students screen printed shirts at the Trashion Show at Warren Wilson College (WWC) in Swannanoa, N.C. on April 10, 2026. (Echo/Richmond Joyce)
Popcorn and cotton candy circulated throughout the entire event, and a printmaking table with Trashion Show merchandise and an information table provided accompaniment to the wide-open Free Store, which students perused and used throughout the afternoon as the student jazz band, JAZZdOg, played tunes.
Students walk the runway at the Trashion Show at Warren Wilson College (WWC) in Swannanoa, N.C. on April 10, 2026. (Echo/Richmond Joyce)
The show began at 6 p.m., with students gathered around a chalked wrap-around runway on the pavement. Rings of chairs lined the walkway, which were quickly filled, and overflow students squeezed between friends on the ground or behind the throng to watch the show.
The MC, Maddie Gamache, began with announcements and a history of the various uses of the Free Store and its space, illustrated by students representing the Community Oriented Regeneration Efforts Crew (CORE) by wearing costumes from various elements of waste: Dunkin’ Donuts boxes, trail maps, art scraps and restitched and refitted clothing.
Maddie Gamache acted as MC of the Trashion Show at Warren Wilson College (WWC) in Swannanoa, N.C. on April 10, 2026. (Echo/Richmond Joyce)
As all of the crews and students walked their trashion around the runway, a theme became clear within the narrative of the presentation: CORE has lore.
The fan favorite costume was a creature of myth: the Crode, a hulking blue mass of woodland scraps bearing large bundles of dead vines on its forearms.
“I had trouble trying to formulate the concept of the Crode,” Curran Hartzler, a performer in the show, said afterwards. “The Crode is a very divine and liminal being, right? It exists within and without the garden.”
Kashius Ford wears a Crode costume designed by Curran Hartzler for the Trashion Show at Warren Wilson College (WWC) in Swannanoa, N.C. on April 10, 2026. (Echo/Richmond Joyce)
The dead-vine element of the costume reportedly used kudzu retrieved from the recent Work Day kudzu removal project.
“I really felt the essence of Warren Wilson in that one, the spirituality of the creature that lives under the garden cabin,” said Felix Mottola-Golluber, with a front row seat to the runway.
The Crode, along with all of the other costumes and creatures portrayed in the show, represented the persevering nature of CORE and the Free Store. In recent years, CORE has struggled to find support from the college’s administration, and since 2024, has not been an official crew of the Work Program Office (WPO). In August of 2024, Dean of Land Resources Dave Ellum announced that CORE had transitioned into the Climate and Sustainability Crew (CSC), comprising multiple sections that worked in different areas of the Climate Action Now (CAN) initiative adopted by the college’s administration.
CORE’s duties did not evaporate with the crew’s official removal, however. The Free Store remains open through volunteer staff, and CORE is still maintained by those who work in adjacent areas to the old crew: Garden Crew members on the official composting subcrew as well as members of the CSC.
“The intention of this [show] was to really bring more campus attention to the Free Store,” Sarah McMullin, Masters in Applied Climate Study Fellow and a Free Store organizer, said. “Also the fact that we really need help.”
A large puppet designed for and showcased at the Trashion Show at Warren Wilson College (WWC) in Swannanoa, N.C. on April 10, 2026. (Echo/Richmond Joyce)
Fellows in the Masters in Applied Climate Study (MACS) have taken initiative with the underwhelmingly-supported Free Store and compost operation.
“I really want to make this area a place for the campus community again,” said Fae Elkin, MACS Fellow and Free Store organizer. “I want people to come here and do their crafts. I want us to hold classes and mending workshops, I want to have the bands play here, and I want people to come and study. I don't want it to just sit here after all these years with so much history.”
Fae Elkin models a cape crafted from recycled flyers posted around Warren Wilson College (WWC) at the Trashion Show in Swannanoa, N.C. on April 10, 2026. (Echo/Richmond Joyce)
At the moment, CORE and the Free Store are being held together by the efforts of the student body.
“We're setting up options for the future, and trying to put a foundation underneath us so we can further evolve as a crew,” Hartzler said.
The Trashion show represents the spirit and influence of one of the largest student-led organizations on campus.
“[The Trashion show] really is an incredible combination of how we want the world to be,” Hartzler said. “It's an incredible combination of our ideas for how we want the world to be open ended, and it's beautiful. It really is at the heart of Wilson.”