A Chat with Our Judges:

The evening was judged by a panel of experts who brought their knowledge and passion for design and fashion to the event. Their insight helped make the night really inspiring for everyone involved, as they shared their thoughts on sustainability, creativity, and design. 

Katy Coughlan works at the highly prestigious company; Turnbull and Asser, which is based around shirt making, and other finery. She has vital roles, which include overseeing bespoke clothes on the factory floor and working in HR, and has had some amazing experiences, such as meeting the King and Queen in 2020, and overseeing the making of Charles' Coronation shirt. I wanted to know how Turnbull & Asser ensures sustainability. Katy told me it was a key ethos of the brand. Packaging and garment materials are at the heart of the campaign, the carbon footprint is lowered by not mass making and only working with requested pieces. The fabric needed to make smaller items are used from the remnants from the shirt cutting process. As well as this, the shirt buttons are made from sustainably sourced mother-of-pearl-shells, the rest of the shell that is not used is ground up and used as fertiliser. By being sustainable, the company hopes to help the planet while also keeping the quality of the items the same. I asked Katy how she found her passion and she told me that work experience at her job greatly helped her, as well as following her passion, which is so vital.

For students, Katy gave some fantastic advice: “work experience is so beneficial and also keeping in contact with employers to build good relationships for a potential job”. Finally, I asked Katy what her top sustainable brands were, ‘Nobody’s child’ and ‘H&M’.

Paul Aspinall, a Ribston alum, has been working at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London for 10 years and has been professionally creating show costumes since 2009. He has worked on costumes in the TV show ‘The Crown’ as well the ‘Six’ the musical, and says costumes are the seventh character in the show. Paul has worked on some amazing pieces and says he was so “impressed with the outfits and wanted them all to win an award”. His job is so interesting, and I wanted to know what advice he would give to students wanting to get into it. He told me it was not easy, but confidence in yourself goes such a long way and urged students to take advantage of any opportunities they get to follow their passion. I asked him how costume design is sustainable, and how the industry reuses costumes, Paul told me that all costumes should last for 10 years minimum, and are never thrown away. They are all built with a 2 1/2 cm seam allowance to allow alterations for different actors. Garments are made for 8 shows a week, for 2 years, so they need to be durable.

We are super lucky as one of our judges, teaches at our school right now! Mrs Lazenbury is an art teacher, and I spoke to her about her opinion on sustainable fashion and what she did before teaching. She worked as a buyer for Next, as well as working for smaller fashion brands; her experience of large corporations was vital to understanding sustainability in the fashion world. She says there has been more awareness of their carbon impact recently, and there is more of an effort to be sustainable, however due to their sheer size, it is more difficult to change the impact. As well as this, smaller companies struggle to deal with the issue as it often costs more. I wanted to ask her what she does to try and be sustainable when buying fashion, Mrs Lazenbury says buying 2nd hand (vinted/Depop) and making repairs on damaged items is the best way to make sure clothes don’t end up in landfill. Mrs Lazenbury especially loves the idea ‘Sashinko’, which is a Japanese visible mending technique, which is the idea of finding beauty in the broken, and it also helps if you still want to wear clothes that may be a little aged.

 

What Happens Backstage

The show would not have been possible without the teams of students and teachers who worked backstage. The evening included canapés from the A-level food teach students, Kristina Rai (a year 12, food tech student) made Onion Bhaji’s, and said “Since I was born in Nepal onion bhaji reminded me of my childhood as I loved eating them when I was younger in my homeland”.  The Tech Team worked tirelessly organising music, sound and lighting, which really added to the show, helping to accentuate the outfits and lift the whole atmosphere of the event. 

 

Mrs Kane led the graphics students, who made amazing props for the runway, which included large mushrooms which were made from newspaper, old chicken wire, and cardboard, which were all recycled materials taken from Gloucester Resource Centre. The graphics students worked tirelessly to complete this, giving up lunch times and working on the display pieces during enrichment week. I spoke to Mrs Kane about her work in this industry, and if she had any advice for inspiring students: she told me her time travelling and working hard to get a Fine Art Diploma helped her discover her true calling. She also said how it was never too late to switch careers and to not be disheartened if you have not found your passion. Lastly, I asked her about the sustainability of props in shows and films, as she has had experience working with both - she told me many props can be reused or altered to fit different briefs. As well as this the industry is trying to guarantee that materials use natural designs and are well-sourced, as well as being well-designed as they are on the move, and need to be used over and over again.

The Eco Committee
The Eco Committee played a huge role in this show, enlightening us to the dangers of fast fashion. Their speech was eye-opening and really shone a light on the issues facing our planet today. The eco-committee is such a vital part of the school, they were awarded a £8000 Nature for Learning Fund this year, and they have been able to make so many positive changes around the school!

The Clothes
Speaking to some of the students participating, I learnt that this show was a way to express their passions, be it cooking, crafting, or sewing. Students said they found confidence when modelling and loved the experience this show brings. When looking to buy sustainable fashion, I find it so hard to find brands that are kind to the planet and our pockets. Emily Woan a year 12 textiles A-level student, who made a beautiful dress for the show, recommended “Goose & Gander”, as well as Vinted and Depop. Emily is a huge fan of charity shops and loves giving a second life to clothes that would ultimately end up in waste. Emily's top tip for using Vinted, was to be really extra specific and to search for specific brands or eras to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Our winner, Neve, told us a little about her garment

I completed my garment by utilising all the components of a paraglider, kindly donated by a teacher in the science department. I have not used any other fabrics other than that from the paraglider and I have even made jewellery from the strings and safety mechanism. Everything is fully recycled, and I’ve tried to replicate the shape the paraglider makes when being flown.

A big thank you to everyone who took part in the show, and a special thank you to
Mrs Finch and all the textiles team for organising such a lovely evening!