MELBOURNE: A new exhibition of garments created from charity clothing donations hopes to reveal the dark side of fast fashion.
Remake-Remix is a collaboration between RMIT University and charity the Brotherhood of St. Laurence.
The show, which opened today, December 4, at the Brotherhood's Hunter Gatherer fashion store in St Kilda, is the culmination of a project in which 18 second-year Bachelor of Design (Fashion) students from RMIT’s School of Architecture and Design transformed garments donated to the Brotherhood into tailored jackets.
Also featured are designer dresses and tops created by former RMIT student Ellie Mücke from donated men’s business shirts, while scarves made from second-hand woollies are the work of RMIT industrial design student Lauren Hogan.
According to Emer Diviney, research and policy coordinator for ethical business at the Brotherhood, the show was designed to give students and attendees insight into fashion’s impact on the environment.
“It takes 10 times more energy to produce clothing than it does to produce glass – but people are much more focused on recycling household glass waste than they are on recycling clothes."
Participating student Houda Mcheileh said the project was a valuable learning experience.
“The community needs to be aware of the amount of waste from clothing. They need to think before they buy things and chuck things out. It made me think that, as a future designer, instead of using new materials maybe I could extract materials from recycled clothing for my designs.”