We were excited to attend a recent fashion show at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC), where talented creative arts students unveiled an upcycled clothing collection with a special Emmaus connection.
Earlier this year, we invited first-year fashion students to visit our Emporium charity shop on Stockwell Head, Hinckley. The students spent a day volunteering with us, helping to sort and select donated clothing for sale in the popular Boutique area inside the shop. Students then chose items to take away for upcycling, in exchange for a kind donation to our charity Emmaus Leicestershire & Rutland. These items then became pieces in the fashion show.
The fashion show, held at NWSLC’s Hinckley Campus, marked the culmination of a week-long series of events celebrating the end of the academic year. Collaboratively, arts and media students presented an exhibition centred around the theme of ‘Empowerment.’
NWSLC Creative Arts Tutor Joanne Hall said, “We’re grateful to Emmaus for this opportunity which has opened students’ eyes to the possibilities of high street charity shops. They have been working hard to upcycle new items of apparel from a range of materials including a pair of curtains and some leather biker trousers which one student has turned into a skirt, top and jacket! The students were so impressed with what they found, they worked together to raise a £70 donation for Emmaus.”
Our charity is grateful to the students for their fantastic fundraising so far, and we very much enjoyed attending the fashion show to see first-hand how their creativity and upcycling talents have transformed the pieces they took from our Emporium store.
Carrie-Anne Abdulai, Assistant Principal for Higher Education and Adults at NWSLC said, “This show is a significant milestone as we celebrate all the hard work and dedication of our staff and students this year. It provides a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase their achievements and see first-hand the high standard of work that students produce at our creative arts campus in Hinckley. The experience of our fashion students has taught us to appreciate the inspiration that is inherent within our local community and what can be achieved when we collaborate with local organisations such as Emmaus. We have enjoyed opening our doors and enabling students to share their work online providing them with an opportunity to celebrate their creativity and recognise their achievements.”
‘Empowerment’ is open to the public until Friday 30 June 2023. Everyone is welcome and there is no need to book.