Gloucestershire College students make fashion statement
Four aspiring art and fashion students have had their creative talents recognised as part of a joint project between the Gloucestershire College Royal Forest of Dean Campus and the Forest of Dean District Council’s waste team.
As part of an initiative to raise awareness about the impact that the clothing industry has on the environment, thirty one first-year students were tasked with producing a single item made by reusing an old denim garment teamed with a piece of clothing purchased from a local charity shop. From the finished garments, four were chosen to receive special recognition with the designers, Gemma Frankland, Kathrin Wacker, Jade Jones and Jadene Van Dyk, each receiving a prize for their work.
Gloucestershire College tutor, Clare Padfield, who has been co-ordinating the project, explains: ‘This is the second year that we have joined up with the Council to promote the reuse of textiles and the topic definitely caught the imagination of the students. For many this will be the first time they have made a garment but they can all be very proud of what they have achieved. They have produced some fantastic results.’
Marsha Llewellyn, Environmental Promotions Officer at Forest of Dean District Council who presented the prizes along with James Walker from Biffa, adds: ‘Latest figures reveal that the UK throws away 1 million tonnes of textiles annually, largely fuelled by the rise in low-cost fashion over recent years. However, only 13% will be recovered through clothing banks and charity shops. In Gloucestershire it is estimated that some 10,000 tonnes of textiles end up in our landfill sites every year but much of this could be avoided as most textiles can be easily recycled.’
The prizes were donated by BCR Global Textiles, the textile recycling company which operates the district’s textile recycling banks and the Council’s waste contractor, Biffa.
11 May 2011