Capital City College students bring sustainable designs to London Fashion Week

In a special treat for fashion lovers in England’s capital, a catwalk show for London Fashion Week featured designs from fashion students studying at Capital City College (CCC).

Held on Sunday, 21 September, as part of Camden Council’s 18-month trial pedestrianisation of Camden High Street, CCC students took part in an open-air catwalk show for London Fashion Week held on the popular high street, which also featured pop-up sections from Stuart Trevor, founder of AllSaints, and Atelier Tamman.

Students were given a brief to create designs that showcase moments from 60 years of Camden’s history, tracing the different fashion genres that have influenced Camden through the decades, while demonstrating a commitment to environmental responsibility.

Teenagers Ruby Hollier and Jayah Dos Santos are in their second year, studying Level 3 Fashion and Communication at CCC. Inspired by koi fish and yin and yang, they repurposed denim materials to create a monochromatic outfit made of a corset top, skirt and a jacket featuring koi fish patterns in red velvet and embroidery.

Ruby said: “I liked using scrapped fabrics and everything else. I hope sustainable fashion practices stay around, especially because with this project, it was so much fun using jeans to make a corset.”

Gender swapping fashion

Another student team, Matteo Zhabina and Matthew Smith, Level 3 Fashion and Communication students at CCC, honoured gender fluidity in their designs. Taking inspiration from Cristóbal Balenciaga, sharp tailoring and 1990s power dressing, the pair decided to gender swap garments, using donated materials originally meant for men or women to creating two unique unisex outfits for the show.

Matteo said, “One design will feature a long coat with a train, based on tailored jackets. Using second-hand clothes, our second look is a long tight skirt and sleeveless jacket with three layers of lapels. We use techniques of hand sewing and machine stitches, which lets us have more experimentation with the look.”

The art of sustainability in fashion at CCC

Arts Curriculum Manager Julie Gillespie at CCC’s King’s Cross campus and Rebecca Tristam, Group Head of School for Art at CCC, worked with the students for this project, providing the second-hand materials for the students.

Julie Gillespie said, “Sustainability is something we value highly at CCC. From the moment our students enter the classroom, we’ve removed sketchbooks. We provide some basic materials for them to work from, but we educate them on how essential it is to use, reuse and repurpose materials and avoid waste.”

Rebecca added: “It’s what makes this opportunity so great, seeing what original and sustainable designs our students can create working toward a set brief. It’s one thing to create a design in the privacy of the classroom, but another to see it on the catwalk.”

“This is really a fantastic opportunity for our students, and we’re so proud of them to have achieved so much so early on in their careers. We are grateful to Camden Council for inviting our students to take part in the show, and can’t wait to see where this leads.”

Isatu Taylor, Curriculum Leader (Centre Schools) at CCC’s Holloway campus, added: “London Fashion Week in particular reveals some of the most original designs and themes that we see across the industry each season, and with Camden’s rich heritage, this brief with a focus on sustainability comes at the perfect time. With the fashion industry at risk of becoming less inclusive than before, it’s wonderful to see our students jump at this opportunity and really bring this brief to life.”

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