Joe Campbell, BBC South Today
BBCModels have taken to the catwalk as part of an event aimed at getting people to think twice about so-called fast fashion.
The event in Slough’s Town Square, organised by Slough Business Improvement District and Slough Anti-Litter Society, want to raise awareness about the environmental impact of throwing clothes away.
The brief to designers was to turn old clothes or materials into an outfit for “an evening out in town”, with the principle of “creativity meeting sustainability”.
Tirza Meinema, chair of the society, said: “More people understand that if you throw something in the bin it doesn’t mean something is just gone.”
She added: “It does go somewhere – either it ends up in landfill, it ends up in the ocean, it ends up in a poor country.”
Fast fashion describes the quick turnover of fashion trends and the move towards cheap, mass-produced clothing.
The event saw visitors exchanging old clothes for tokens which could then be used to buy unwanted garments on display.
One customer, Chloe, said: “I’m hoping to go to an Asian wedding later today and I don’t have anything appropriate to wear.
“There’s nothing in charity shops so here’s a perfect place.”
It is the third year that the upcycling event has taken place, in which unique designs are showcased on the catwalk.
Designer Quesia Rahim, who created a dress made out of ties, said: “I went around for the last year collecting ties off the lovely men in my life – my neighbour, my dad, my brother, friends, and I’ve made a dress.”
