Fashion, textiles and art students from Wiltshire College & University Centre have teamed up with hospice charity Dorothy House to save unwanted clothing from the recycling bin and transform it into unique, reworked garments.
The one-off pieces will be sold in Dorothy House shops to raise funds for the charity, while also giving students valuable real-world experience. The project involves first and second-year Level 3 fashion and textiles students, alongside first-year Level 2 art and design students based at the college’s Trowbridge campus.
The collaboration came about after lecturer Helen Chivers learned about Dorothy House’s Threads for Care initiative. Launched last year as the charity marks its 50th anniversary, the scheme works with designers to upcycle clothing that is too damaged or low quality to be sold in its 30 charity shops.
Dorothy House is only able to sell around 30 per cent of each bag of donated clothing and currently spends more than £70,000 a year disposing of unsaleable items.
Over the next two months, 42 students will use the discarded clothing - known as rags, to create new pieces while developing their creative and technical skills.
First-year fashion and textiles students will take inspiration from a Marie Antoinette exhibition at the V&A Museum in London, creating high-street interpretations of grand party dresses. First-year art and design students will work with randomly selected bags of rags from the charity’s Corsham warehouse, cutting the clothing into strips to weave, knit or knot into bags, adding their own decorations, pockets and personal details.
Students will also upcycle denim garments using embroidery, painting and textile techniques, incorporating personal messages into their designs.
Second-year fashion and textiles students will create eye-catching outfits designed to promote sustainability, which will be modelled during fashion shoots and at a fashion show at the college.
“Threads for Care fits very well with the ethical and sustainable theme that runs through all of our fashion and arts courses,” said Helen. “It felt like a natural fit for us because we want to promote sustainability, recycling and the message of fast fashion excess, as well as an ethical responsibility towards society, by giving back and getting involved in a positive way with our community.”
All of the pieces will be showcased on the catwalk at the college’s fashion show on June 18, which will be organised and run by the students themselves.
Helen said the project would give students experience of working collaboratively and to deadlines, while developing both practical and professional skills.
“Being able to take their work out of the classroom and put it in a real-world context, where somebody might buy what they make from an actual shop, is something you can’t create within the college environment, so the value of this project is enormous,” she said.
“We’re so grateful to Dorothy House for agreeing to it. Working with their team will give it a very different flavour for the students and help them develop important social and professional skills as well.”
Dorothy House Head of Communications Katy Hancock said working with students would bring fresh energy to the Threads for Care brand.
“It’s really fantastic to be able to work with creatives within our community who want to do something productive with waste and repurpose, recycle and upcycle it into brand new, bespoke pieces,” she said.
“It’s great for our shoppers and audiences, but it also helps us reduce the amount of clothing going to landfill and lowers the cost of disposing of unsaleable donations.”
For more information about fashion courses at Wiltshire College & University Centre, visit www.wiltshire.ac.uk. To find out more about Dorothy House, visit dorothyhouse.org.uk.
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