Ecothreads – Rags to Runway: Where education, design, music and sustainability collide to save the planet one outfit at a time.

Kangan Institute's Advanced Diploma Students welcomed us for a peek behind the scenes of their Ecothreads designs in the making.

Kangan Institute’s collaboration with Australian Red Cross and Melbourne all-girl rock band Stonefield took the stage last August 27th as part of the 2016 Melbourne Spring Fashion Week’s Curated Program. The standout event, Ecothreads, showcased the designs of the students in a sustainable runway show and live performance from Stonefield, all the while raising funds for the Australian Red Cross!

Featuring up-cycled outfits made by Kangan Institute’s fashion students, each were re-designed, re-styled and up-cycled using donated garments from Red Cross Stores that were unsaleable and destined for disposal. The Stonefield band members each handpicked designs from the students to wear for the live performance, exclusively tailored using 3D body scanning technology at Kangan Institute.

“According to the Danish Fashion Institute’s 2013 study, the fashion industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters.” says Vicki Nicola, Kangan Institute’s lead fashion educator, “This collaboration is a great example of education, sustainability and popular culture coming together to really make a difference during Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. Kangan Institute students get to raise funds for a meaningful cause, while applying their skills to give new life to discarded garments in the name of sustainability.”

All proceeds from the event went to the Red Cross to help people most in need in Australia and around the world.

Before the event, we were lucky enough to be invited to the students' studio space to see their design process and creations in the making. The attention to detail, creative problem solving, knowledge of materials, techniques and fit were incredible!

You can see coverage of the final garments on the runway here via PNP Media. Well done to all involved, and we look forward to seeing what comes from this space in the future!

Photos by Madina Sidiqi

OPEN STUDIOS SERIES | Leading designers welcome us into their studios for an insight into their creative lands and to talk textiles, sustainability and fashion’s future.