With a few high profile film award shows and fashion week lingering in recent memory, along with daily news stories covering environmental issues, re:Dress, a fashion exhibit at the Michigan State University Museum, could not have been timed better.

A collaboration between the MSU Museum and the MSU Apparel and Textile Program, re:Dress is a presentation of student-

crafted haute couture, created entirely from recycled or repurposed materials. While the designs are ambitiously eco-friendly, the garments were also created with a red carpet mindset. Each dress is worthy of a starlet strutting down a paparazzi-laden, flashbulb-filled runway.

Theresa Winge, assistant professor in the Apparel and Textile Design program in the Art and Art History department at MSU, curated the exhibit along with working directly with the student designers.

"Students were asked to consider the carbon footprint and social responsibility directly connected to the raw materials, production, design and second life of the design beyond this exhibit," Winge said.

re:Dress Michigan State University Museum, Heritage Gallery, East Lansing April 17-July 1 Free museum.msu.edu, (517) 355-7474

Some students used discarded fashion magazines and recycled secondhand garments like old wedding gowns to add to their creations. Beyond selecting sustainable fabrics, students explored the environmental effects of every step of the process and even carpooled to grab supplies.

"Students struggled primarily with securing materials for their designs ... Several students chose to up-cycle or recycle secondhand garments," Winge said.

While there is no specific "green method," Winge says there are design and construction approaches that lend themselves to green design. All of the students were taught the zero-waste pattern method and many students elected to start from unusual sources like plastic bags, soda cans and corn husks.

Out of 42 designs submitted to the exhibit, 16 designs were selected. A judged jury panel chose each garment based on aesthetics, design process, innovation, creativity and sustainability percentage.

But this isn't the first time the MSU fashion departments have focused on being green. Last year, a handful of Winge's students participated in the Red Carpet Green Design competition.

"Jillian Granz won the competition and designed the Oscar gown for James Cameron's wife, Suzy Amis Cameron, for the 2010 Academy Awards," Winge said.