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CLC Fashion Week

26th March 2025

UPCYCLED FASHION SHOW

The 12th annual Upcycled Fashion Show took place on Wednesday 19th March. We saw over 40 outfits modelled by students from LC1 to UC5.

The competition showcases the incredible ingenuity and creative vision of our students: the outcomes reflect many hours of hard work, of careful planning, persistent problem-solving and productive collaboration.

We saw imaginative and inspired use of a huge range of unwanted items: bin bags, bubble wrap, books and broken tents from the Outdoor Ed Department became voluminous skirts. Perfectly fitted, structured corsets were made from papier mâché and crocheted plastic bags. Angel wings were much in evidence, each pair expertly crafted and utterly unique, as was the use of heat-moulding to reshape plastic bottles into beautiful flowers. Old jeans were converted into ruffled mini-skirts, tops were given a new lease of life with applique and embroidery, and unwanted stage fabric was converted into elegant sheer evening-dresses.

There were innovative accessories including denim handbags, headpieces covered in chocolate gold coin wrappers and even a customised ski helmet! Hundreds of items had been carefully collected within Houses or by families in advance, including bottle tops, cereal boxes and snack packets: this showed incredible forward planning!

This year’s House entries really demonstrated the power and value of team work and showcased the community spirit that exists within the Houses. Several entries involved contributions from the whole House, including staff and students. Many of the Houses used their garments to highlight sustainability issues such as ocean pollution or the impact of motor sports.

LC3 Textiles students also showcased their recent classwork, presenting 18 upcycled men’s work shirts which they had transformed into a collection of very stylish and unique garments including summery dresses, fitted tops and pleated skirts. The girls were tasked with creating a wearable, durable garment, with the added challenge to think inventively about how to utilise existing components. They used a combination of imagination and skillful manipulation to repurpose collars and cuffs into waistbands and belts, to reconfigure armholes and sleeves, to reverse shirts from front to back and reposition pockets, buttons and button holes.

The atmosphere was wonderfully warm and supportive: the enthusiastic audience clapped and cheered throughout, and all the models presented their garments with real confidence, personality and flair.

The Winners

The judges had some incredibly difficult decisions to make. We were very fortunate to secure Guild member Jessica Saunders (Fashion Programme Director at the London College of Fashion) and Anita Griffin (a Textile Technologist with a long career in industry) as our judges.

'Trashion' Category Winner

The winner of the Trashion category was Tosin (UC4), who created a stunning halter neck ball gown from cereal boxes with a clear plastic over-layer.

Tosin had drafted her own pattern pieces for the bodice and skirt and overlay – a very advanced skill requiring some complex mathematics!

'The Upcycling' Category Winner

The Upcycling category was won by Natalie (LC2) who demonstrated her incredible design flair, ambition and technical skill by creating an entire 3-piece outfit from two pairs of denim jeans.

She cleverly converted a pair of jeans into a stylish jacket, by using the waistband as the hem of her jacket and the legs as the sleeves! To this she added a ruffled denim mini skirt and a black cinched top, made from unwanted fabric using a pattern she had drafted herself.

'House Trashion' Category Winner

St Helen’s were the worthy winners of this year’s House Trashion category.

They used two decommissioned parachutes (donated by a member of the House Staff) to create a beautiful garment with a multi-layered billowing skirt and halter top. The parachute lines (over 100 metres in total) had been glued together and wound into a giant ball of yarn, from which a stunning corset was crocheted.

Every girl and member of staff wrote their name and the place they call home onto the skirt, creating a sort of wearable world map that celebrates the global diversity of their community.

Huge congratulations to everyone who participated in this year’s competition – I can’t wait to see what comes down the runway next year!

Purchase Upcycled Fashion Show Photos

CLC Fashion Week

This year, Upcycled formed part of CLCs first ever fashion week (10th - 20th March), with a wide range of activities and events to raise awareness of the highs and the lows of the fashion industry and to highlight its links with science, technology, art and ethics. Daily Fashion Bulletins covered topics such as inclusive fashion, smart-textiles, virtual fashion and fast fashion.

There were talks on Sustainable Fashion and how to apply to university fashion courses. Students were given the challenge of making a Newspaper Dress in just 15 minutes, and the opportunity to create fashion mood boards. The week culminated in a successful second-hand clothing sale (CPOP) raising funds for the College Charities. My thanks to Textiles Reps Waka and Scarlett for running these events and to Miss Burston’s global citizens for their organisation of the CPOP sale.