A fashion student has proved looking good does not have to cost a packet - by winning a fashion show in a dress modelled by a friend made entirely out of old Walkers Crisp bags. It might not to be everyone's taste but Rebekah Kirkland's design proved a hit at her end of year catwalk event. And it did not cost her a penny since all the empty bags were donated by friends, family and fellow students.
Hundreds of packets were stitched in layers to avoid the full length dress ripping when the size eight model burst the design into the limelight. Having toyed with a number of brands, fashion diploma student Rebekah felt the striking and bold colours of Walkers crisp packets would create a dress exhibiting 'vibrancy, status and prominence'. The dress itself took two months to make and did not require her to eat a single crisp. Friends and family collected old packets and Rebekah also left collection boxes around the college for other students to donate their empty bags of Walkers. Rebekah added 'Leicester College was always my first choice for learning about fashion.
'I am into recycling and reducing waste and thank Leicester College for helping me to achieve an amazing dress through everyday waste products.' The painstaking task involved stitching hundreds of bags together with a sewing machine without ripping them. Rebekah said: 'It was a tedious job but it was worth it. It's such a big thing for fashion these days to try to reduce waste so I took it a step further. I'm into recycling, reducing waste and like art and prefer fashion to be more art based. I put a box in college and asked for people's old crisp packets. I had to wash them all before I sewed them together with a sewing machine. Each one of the squares is three packets thick because I didn't want it to rip.'
The dress won this year's Leicester College Sustainable Design Award 2011, beating a rival creation made out of old newspapers by fellow student Ellen Goldie. Judges said the dress 'was an excellent innovation of waste products used to create a functional garment'.
Sustainability Manager Roy Morgan-Wood added: 'Leicester College is committed to embedding sustainable development in the fashion and footwear curriculum and thrives on innovative fashions. 'The College excels at encouraging students to think outside the box and implement recyclable goods into fashion. Rebekah's design will encourage people to think of consumption and waste in a different way. She is hanging onto her creation - unless someone rustles up an offer she cannot refuse.'
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