A van sits in front of Kissing Alley, its doors fling open to reveal a sea of color made entirely from upcycled clothing. Between the bands, the beer and the buzz of a Saturday night art crawl at the Kiss & Tale artist activation, something slower is unfolding: a conversation over stitching and salvage. In front of the van, megaphone in hand, Corinne Loperfido greets attendees with a smile — and a message: sustainability for all.

It isn’t just a pop-up or a vintage rack on wheels. Loperfido’s Slow Fashion Center for Degrowth is a mobile manifesto that’s part textile workshop, part wearable protest.

Her stop at Kissing Alley for the San Marcos Studio Tour offered more than upcycled fashion. It introduced a philosophy rooted in community, care and resistance to waste.

Loperfido’s van pulled double duty as both storefront and platform — visitors browsed, swapped and lingered to talk sustainability. Between curated garments and salvaged fabric scraps, her messages were stitched in bold, literal terms: “Compost the System. Abolish Fart Shame. End Human Supremacy.”

However, the slogans are just entry points to a deeper project.

“The Slow Fashion Center for Degrowth is about bringing humans into an awareness of materials,” Loperfido said. “Everyone on earth wears clothes… so it’s something every person can relate to.”

​​Degrowth, as Loperfido describes it, isn’t just about doing less — it’s about doing things differently when it comes to fashion and art. Her van is not only a vehicle used for sales. It’s a mobile classroom, a free bin and a call to action. She emphasizes reuse over retail and teaching over transaction.

“If I can create an opportunity for someone to get free clothes, I will,” Loperfido said. “It’s about teaching people about using what we already have and not continuing to support big corporations.”

Loperfido’s art focuses less on producing new objects, instead it aims to reimagine what’s already been discarded.

“I’m trying to make art out of trash and also make something useful that people actually need,” Loperfido said. “Instead of just making random art objects.”

That ethos resonated in San Marcos. At the Kiss & Tale event, Loperfido’s space was more than a stop on the tour, it became a meeting point. Locals dug through bins of free clothes, picked up upcycled clothes and lingered to ask questions about the project.

“It totally encapsulated how the art scene works in San Marcos,” Brooke Schumacher, geography senior and artist who attended the event, said. “Somebody can just come and drive up and there’s going to be people there to appreciate what they’re doing.”

Schumacher purchased a pair of green pants with dragonfly patches and upcycled overalls that read “GROW FOOD” made from patchwork with reclaimed scraps. Even before she learned the full story, she felt something click.

“Remind me I want to spend my money here,” Schumacher told her boyfriend. “This type of fashion, slow fashion, upcycled, something that’s coming from the heart of a person. It’s just so much better.”

That community embrace is exactly what the organizers had hoped for.

“Her van’s hatchback swings open to reveal a little shop of wonders,” Rebekah Porter, assistant director of The San Marcos Studio Tour and Kiss & Tale event, wrote in an email to The Star. “All curated works of art made from recycled textiles. People walking by were instantly engaged.”

That community embrace is exactly what the organizers had hoped for.

“Her van’s hatchback swings open to reveal a little shop of wonders,” Rebekah Porter, assistant director of The San Marcos Studio Tour and Kiss & Tale event, wrote in an email to The Star. “All curated works of art made from recycled textiles. People walking by were instantly engaged.”

Loperfido, who only recently moved to San Marcos, quickly became a fixture of the Studio Tour, appearing in Kissing Alley and at the kickoff party at MotherShip and Eye of the Dog. Her upcycled shop on wheels makes her work adaptable, accessible and intentionally public.

“Although she hasn’t lived in San Marcos long, Corinne has already established herself as a vital part of the creative community,” Porter said.

For many attendees, Loperfido’s work was more than just a spectacle — it was an invitation.

“It was really special to see how excited people got when finding a piece from Corinne’s shop that they really resonated with,” Porter said. “We live in such a special place where the people truly have the power to create art and share it in almost any way with an open and understanding community.”

For Loperfido, the studio tour was a beginning. With future workshops and mending lessons already in the works, she’s planning to stay rooted and local.

“I want to have interactions with people that live nearby,” Loperfido said. “Those are your friends, your comrades and your community.”