Environment
Environmental sustainability in the project
We want to enable the project team and our community to be empowered to make informed choices about the environment.
The project will use recycled/recyclable materials and repurpose existing resources for the workshops.
We will reduce environmental impact by holding online events (reducing the environmental impact of travelling) and using digital resources to promote the project.
We will incorporate environmental sustainability into the activities for young people. Following discussion with the Project Manager Outreach, we have agreed it is necessary for the young people to have face-to-face (not online) workshops. Other workshops and events to promote the project will be run online.
Zandra Rhodes
Before it was fashionable to be environmentally conscious, Zandra Rhodes produced her hand-screenprinted and handmade couture locally, spoke for the Buy British campaign in the 1980s, and promoted re-use rather than throw-away fashion.
Graduating as a Textile designer from the Royal College of Art in the 1960s, Zandra Rhodes' unique approach started with the creation of her own textiles, which were mapped to the body to form a "Work of Art"; the garment label reads:
"This is one of my special dresses. I think of it as an artwork that you will treasure forever. Everything made by me is an heirloom for tomorrow."
Zandra Rhodes also makes personal ethical choices: wearing and re-wearing archival pieces from her collections in public, and supporting charities like the Environmental Justice Foundation, WasteAid, and the Recycle Your Electricals campaign. Zandra Rhodes has kept dresses, accessories and archival materials over more than 50 years, and this forms part of her artistic practice in the revisiting of her textile designs. The silkscreens are re-used; and even the backing cloths are kept and repurposed as hanging textiles. Rhodes has also collaborated with People Tree, a pioneer in sustainable Fair Trade fashion.
University for the Creative Arts (UCA)
Environmental sustainability is at the heart of everything UCA does; the University is committed to sustainable development and reducing the environmental impact of its activities
. In September 2021, the University's School of Fashion & Textiles launched the UK's first degree course in Digital Fashion in response to environmental concerns such as fast fashion and the growth of designing digital fashion for virtual reality, gaming and social media. Our project will promote environmentally sustainable fashion to 16-17-year-olds, using the workshops and toolkit to discuss concepts such as #slowfashion. We will make all our project resources available online and hold virtual events, improving access especially for young people from low socio-economic areas who find it challenging to visit museums.
