Students at SGS College in Stroud have teamed up with Oxfam to turn unwanted clothing into upcycled items.
The Stroud branch of Oxfam donated unsellable garments to the art students who used their design skills to make beautiful hand-crafted pieces which are now showcased in the shop’s window display.
The brief to the students was to use all recycled fabrics and nothing brought from new to design and make. The project was created in response to the fashion industry producing over 100 billion new garments a year from new fibres, and the planet being unable to sustain this. The Art department at the College is passionate about teaching a holistic understanding of sustainability in the fashion and luxury industries.
Lichen Davenport, Art & Design Lecturer at SGS College, Stroud School of Art, commented: “This collaboration with Oxfam was a great way for our learners to showcase their amazing upcycling skills and prove that sustainable fashion can be cutting-edge, as well as the solution to protect our planet”.
Art and Design Foundation student, Tilly Parsley, said: “ I really enjoyed this sustainability project. It felt good to use the clothes that Oxfam were unable to sell, to make new garments as it reduced the amount of waste even more so. I am really pleased with our display as I think our creations look splendid altogether and it’s good to see them in the Oxfam window in a new and refreshing way.”
