Rags to Runway raises thousands for charity!

On Wednesday 6 September Kangan Institute launched its Fashion Event: Kinship – the Rags to Runway fashion show in partnership with Australian Red Cross. The event was a huge success with hundreds of guests milling with students and fashion gurus.

As a part of Melbourne Fashion Week 2017, the show presented outfits made by students of Kangan Institute’s design and fashion courses. What set this show apart were the rules – all materials and clothing to be used as the basis for the outfits were exclusively sourced from donated garments from Red Cross Shops. These were then reimagined, redesigned, recreated and upcycled into the stunning creations previewed at the event.

By taking this approach, Rags to Runway sought to highlight some important issues: Australians purchase 27kg of new textiles each year – twice the global average. ABC TV series War on Waste drew attention to us also disposing 6,000 kilograms of fashion and textile waste every 10 minutes, equating to a formidable 500,000 tonnes into landfill according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Ashley Fri Vola; a Kangan Institute Diploma of Fashion student, was thrilled to be a part of the evening; “I’ve actually seen and learnt what is happening to the environment through traditional fashion practices. I really appreciate this opportunity in bringing the community together in recycling old garments and the teamwork involved in bringing such an event together.

“The sharing, the recycling - it’s been such an eye opener. For me it’s a blessing.”

Our students were privileged to have Celebrity eco-stylist, founder of Op Shop To Runway and Red Cross Ambassador Alex van Os styling the show and guiding the students with their designs.

“Events like Rags to Runway are fantastic because it’s a way of allowing students to showcase reducing, reusing and recycling. It’s a similar ethos with shopping at Red Cross Shops – they’re not able to have those amazing pieces in there without people donating. It just promotes a mentality that everything becomes a cycle- that’s something I hope is promoted more with events like this.”

Shopping and donating to Red Cross Shops encourages the community to reduce landfill waste.

“This collaboration is a great example of education, sustainability and popular culture coming together to really make a difference during Melbourne Fashion Week,” said Vicki Nicola, Kangan Institute’s lead fashion educator. “Kangan Institute students get to raise funds for a meaningful cause, while applying the skills needed to work in fashion to give new life to discarded garments in the name of sustainability.”

Rags to Runway was also successful in raising $5000 for Red Cross , a great result!

To learn more about our design and fashion courses at Kangan Institute; follow this link.