Fashion collided with community action yesterday as residents of Amsterdam North took to the catwalk to encourage the local community to keep their streets tidy and clear of rubbish.

To bring the point home a dozen volunteer models dressed themselves in rags and rubbish to take part in a fashion event that fused awareness about cleaner streets with all the glitz of the runway.
 

Listen to the Newsline report:

The project was the brainchild of Coos Langkemper, who works at a local community care centre called Kansweb.

“We try to explain to people that leaving garbage on the ground is not good for you. It’s only good for rats and birds who bring disease and bacteria. The eyes want to see a beautiful street – so we should help each other…Now I thought we needed something new, so we came up with the catwalk idea and dresses made from garbage”

The event brought together local children, dozens of rubbish collectors and the general public to bring home the message “cleaner streets make for a happier community all round”.

So, what did the locals make of it?

“It’s a good event. Everyone should know you can recycle rubbish and that people should throw it away. It’s not my kind of fashion but it’s good to see what they’ve done with it,” said one onlooker.

As the models finished their final turn down the catwalk, the local children picked up their drums and played to the crowd, the streets of north Amsterdam were spotless.