Fox Chapel teen finalist in global sustainable fashion competition
Green is the way to go for a Fox Chapel teen with a passion for recycled-inspired sustainable fashion.
Raina Guzman of Fox Chapel was named a Junk Kouture New York World finalist in May in the 2025 Junk Kouture World Final competition.
Junk Kouture is marketed as the world’s first sport for creative teens. The free program is open to students ages 12-19, in which contestants create high-end couture from recycled junk. Creations must be made from 100% recycled materials and designs must be transportable.
Guzman, who just finished her junior year at Fox Chapel Area High School, heard about the competition from her art teacher.
She initially wanted to enter the contest during her freshman year but decided to wait until she was older.
“I’ve always been an artist and wanted to do something with art. My mother was an art teacher and I had all that stuff available to me to draw and craft,” she said.
Guzman will model her couture creation at the Junk Kouture World Final Competition next year, where she’ll compete for various awards and the title of Junk Kouture World Designer of the Year.
She crocheted plastic bags to create a dress and accessories made from 100% recycled materials, including Styrofoam, watercolors, tissue paper and plastic flowers.
The entire process took about a year. Guzman enlisted the help of her school friend Claire Conti as helper and photographer.
Guzman named her creation Ostara, after the goddess associated with the spring equinox.
The girls collaborated to style and photograph moody and creative images of Guzman modeling Ostara in the snow, in a living room setting and wearing an intricate and colorful headdress.
Conti will accompany Guzman to the world competition.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic that Raina and I are going to nationals together,” Conti said. “The design of the dress is absolutely gorgeous. It’s amazing that I have a friend that can come up with things like this and put them together. I’m so glad I was able to capture the personality of Ostara in the photos.”
She’s hopeful her design exudes female empowerment.
“It’s really important to me to do something that I love,” Guzman said.
Guzman is putting the finishing touches on Ostara, which leans heavily on a crochet design for the bodice.
“I used a big crochet hook and it’s all held together with twist ties,” Guzman said. “Everyone in the school helped to get hundreds of plastic bags donated.”
The plastic bags were cut into strips and made into balls of yarn.
Guzman is tweaking recycled jewelry embellishments for Ostara that will include a necklace, earrings and a metalwork wire centerpiece.
She attached plastic flowers to shoes to complete the look.
“This process has taught me self-confidence. I didn’t submit this for like two years because I thought, ‘What if I did all of this for nothing?’ ” Guzman said. “I’m really glad I got myself to finish it.”
She found out about her finalist status watching a video released by Junk Kouture.
“I had a watch party with my family, I was really excited about this because I spent so much time on this,” Guzman said.
Guzman is the daughter of Jody and John Guzman.
Jody Guzman described her daughter’s interest in art as a natural progression.
“To see it come to fruition like this is wonderful. When we watched the top 10 announced for the global competition, hers was the third design to pop up. My jaw dropped in disbelief,” Guzman said. “We jumped up and down with excitement and it was really a great moment.”
The Guzmans praised Conti’s shutterbug skills.
“The two of them worked so well together,” Jody Guzman said. “Claire is such a talented photographer and really took incredible pictures of the dress.”
Junk Kouture was created in 2010 and the first competition was held in Dublin. To date, more than 100,000 students representing 35 nationalities have competed. Junk Kouture competitions are hosted in Dubai, Dublin, London, Milan, New York and Paris.
The location for the live-event World Final will be announced in the coming months. The event takes place in April or May 2026.
Guzman chose the song “Fake Flowers” by Maggie Rose for her upcoming runway modeling performance at the finals.
Wearing layers and layers of recycled materials hasn’t been too hard, Guzman said.
“It’s definitely a lot heavier than I expected and it’s sort of scratchy, so I’m going to add some more fabric inside.”
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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