This generation is the first to experience fast fashion: inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends. Nowadays, it is not unusual to own multiple garments of the same style and colour and to throw away clothing when it becomes unwanted. The attitude of ‘make do and mend’ seems to have been replaced by many in society, by a more careless approach to clothing.
However, this is not the case in the Sacred Heart Textiles department, where staff and students strive to focus on sustainability and eco fashion in all that they do. Students learn about the realities of the fashion industry and the pollution associated with every stage of production a new garment goes through. They also find out how they can be part of the solution through the exciting range of projects they participate in during their Textiles lessons.
KS3 students work on a number of sustainable projects, including making sock creatures from unwanted socks and totes from plastic carrier bags. At KS4, our upcycling project is based on the BBC programme ‘The Great British Sewing Bee’ where students create unique and original garments from a few unwanted textile products. At KS4 and 5 students recycle textile products as part of their final design.
The Textiles department regularly makes requests for textile donations from the staff at Sacred Heart so that their old clothes, curtains and bedding can be transformed into something new by our talented designers.
These photographs give just a few examples of how once loved items have been brought back to life. The students have superimposed their designs onto catwalk models, but they would not look out of place in London Fashion Week!