University of Sunderland students show the benefits of sustainable fashion with garments made from fabric offcuts

Students from the city's university have been leading the way in showing how waste fabrics can be used to create fashionable clothing while reducing waste.

Final year Fashion students from the University of Sunderland teamed up with Stockton based charity Daisy Chain to transform textile waste into desirable high-fashion couture including dresses, jackets and nightwear.

The Neuthread branded garments were created from fabric offcuts that were destined for landfill and as well as creating high quality outfits a key aim of the project was also to raise awareness of textile waste.

The garments were created over a five month period and are now on display as part of an exhibition at the University’s Priestman Building on City Campus.

One of the students taking part was Diianeira Zympouloki, who said: “It was interesting to learn about the use of other textiles to make clothes. I hadn’t really considered re-using material that had already had another use before.

"I learnt a lot about the problem of textiles waste, and it is something I will definitely be taking forward with me after I leave the University and go into work.”

Daisy Chain will select the best garments to go on sale at the charity's Neuthread shopping platform.

Cárá Baumann, Senior Corporate Partnership, Events and Design Manager at Daisy Chain, said: “We are so happy to work with the University of Sunderland and the fashion students to help support their education on the huge issue of textiles waste. Our charity receives thousands of bags of textiles as donations and the majority of that still ends up as waste.

“The Neuthread brand has been developed to breathe life into these discarded fabrics, and this partnership has enabled us to support students to look at how the textiles can be re-used and, importantly, to develop skills that they can take with them into the fashion houses and onwards in their careers.”

Laura Middlemass, Sustainability Manager at the University, said: “Universities as a whole have a huge role to play in meeting the environmental challenges the world is facing, and one of our greatest impacts will be the positive changes our students go on to make throughout their lives and careers long after they have left us. 

“It is so important that we ensure sustainability skills for the future are included throughout all our faculties, right across the curriculum.

"It is great to see the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries and specifically the Fashion Design and Promotion course doing this with real enthusiasm and in a way that genuinely adds value to the student experience and benefits the planet.”

The exhibition will run until Wednesday March 6.