Buckinghamshire students get ready to walk down the catwalk
Date: 10-11-2009
MORE THAN 650 pupils from across Buckinghamshire have combined fashion with passion for the environment in this year’s Recycled Clothes Show, which takes place on Thursday 12 November, 7pm-9pm at the Wycombe Swan Theatre, High Wycombe.
Using entirely unwanted textiles, paper and waste materials, 280 secondary school pupils designed garments for the catwalk show and about 370 primary school pupils produced accessories (for list of schools see notes to editor).
The show, now in its 16th year, has been organised by the Rethink Rubbish at Schools* waste education programme, which has delivered a series of fun and informative workshops to more than 1800 pupils, covering the environmental, social and ethical impacts of the fashion industry. The workshops support the clothes show event by encouraging students to think about how the 3R’s - reduce, reuse and recycle - can help minimise these impacts. The judging criteria require these environmental considerations to be present in the designs.
David Carroll, Member of the Joint Waste Committee said, “The fashion industry is a billion dollar industry which has huge environmental and social implications. The Recycled Clothes Show has given us a great opportunity to discuss these issues with students and encourage them to explore alternative ideas. I am sure the students have worked hard and will come up with some pretty spectacular designs, which I look forward to judging. Being a Wycombe resident I am also really excited that the event will be held in Wycombe this year.”
There are several fantastic prizes up for grabs. The top prize will be awarded for the ‘Most Outstanding School Contribution’ which will be assessed not only on the quality of the final designs, but also on the commitment and dedication of the school to deliver the educational message behind the programme. The prize will be a workshop with Nicola Rowsell, a local artist and sculptor, who will then produce a permanent art installation for the school, using reclaimed/unwanted materials.
The event is sponsored by the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire, the county’s paper recyclers Aylesford Newsprint and UPM Shotten, the district’s waste collection providers Verdant, and the Wycombe Swan Community Fund. A representative from each of these organisations will also be on the judging panel as well as Lawrence Dunhill from the Bucks Free Press newspaper and Nicola Rowsell. The event will be hosted by Mix 96, will include interval entertainment from local drumming band Drumojo.
For more information or if you would like to attend the event please contact Anushka Desai, Communications Officer on 01296 387677.
