That’s the ticket: Models hit the Rockridge runway in clothes fashioned from BART passes

Dozens of models strutted down a runway at the Rockridge BART station on Saturday, the crowd around them whooping and snapping cellphone pictures. Their outfits were stylish, original and almost entirely made of paper — old BART tickets to be precise. 

In a competition between four schools, students from the Academy of Art University, Oakland School for the Arts, City College of San Francisco and San Francisco State University were tasked with one job: upcycle old BART tickets into fashion. 

In coming up with the idea, Alicia Trost, BART chief communications officer, drew inspiration from a dress made out of BART paper tickets 10 years ago by local Oakland fashion designer Sean Porter.

“Somebody from a warehouse at BART had called me and said, ‘We have all these boxes of paper tickets, we are going to shred them since we don’t use them anymore,” Trost said. “And I said, ‘Don’t shred them, let me figure out a way to get artists to do something with them.’ I just thought, wouldn’t it be epic to have an actual fashion runway show?”

Trost’s vision became a reality as nearly 100 participants, including student designers and models, brought creativity and sustainability to the runway. The event exhibited over 35 unique garments, each telling the story of BART’s evolution — from the iconic blue paper tickets to a dress that said goodbye to the Oakland A’s using team promotional tickets. 

Namiah Escamilla, a sixth-grader at Oakland School for the Arts, entered her mini-mannequin design in the show.  

“I was shocked because I didn’t really have much experience,” Namiah said, when she learned she would be making clothes out of paper tickets. “So to make my first project out of the BART ticket cards, it was madness.”

Some designers modeled their own creations, others — including one who outfitted her 4-year-old daughter for the runway — stayed behind the scenes. 

“It’s just been a great experience. We’re super excited about the show and it’s a great way to use and recycle the BART tickets,” said Jennifer Escamilla, Namiah’s mom.

Maureen Duru, a San Francisco State University student worked with a team to make a frilly ticket dress inspired by “Alice in Wonderland,” accented with a corset and a collar made from playing cards.

“It was a very creative way to create a garment. I’m definitely all about upcycling and using items that we already have to create something new,” Duru said. “I thought it was a fun project to work on, especially since we got to showcase it at an event and to the community.”

BART began phasing out paper tickets in 2019, discontinued selling them at the end of 2020 and stopped accepting them in November. Riders who still have paper tickets lying around can receive a cash refund if the balance is over $1.

There are benefits that seniors, riders with disabilities and lower-income people can access through the Clipper card that weren’t offered in paper tickets.

In recognition of the student’s work, winners will receive loaded Clipper and Amazon gift cards. First-place winners for the high school, college and best-use-of-paper-tickets divisions will have an opportunity to design merchandise with BART. Additionally, each person who competed will receive professional photographs of their designs to use in their resumes.

“We’re really trying to help the students,” Trust said. “And it’s about making it a meaningful and lasting professional development for them.” 

(Top photo: San Francisco State student Ixchel Flores models an “Alice in Wonderland” dress. By Sara Martin)

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