The long-legged models striding down the runway Thursday wore original designs worthy of New York Fashion Week--but with a twist. To raise environmental awareness, local suburban designers created them all from candy wrappers, magazines, newspapers, crayon boxes, dryer sheets and other--well, trash.

Mary Allen, recycling and education director of the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, said local designers and high school fashion students spent months designing and hand-making the often-whimsical confections. SWANCC organized the event as a way to encourage people to get creative about reusing and re-purposing to keep materials out of landfills.

SWANCC, which is both a unit of government and a non-profit agency, coordinates municipalities' efforts to manage the region's garbage.  It has 23 member communities, including Evanston, Skokie, Morton Grove, Niles, Glenview, Wilmette and Winnetka. 

About 200 people applauded the designers and models, who ranged from ages 2 to adult, at the fashion show Thursday night at the Holiday Inn in Skokie. For information on next year's show, join SWANCC's eList.