Fashion students at the University of Sunderland have teamed up with Teesside fashion brand Neuthread to create a line of sustainable clothing with one design set to go into production.
A spring/summer dress designed by third-year student Madina Mammadova will be produced by the label this spring.
“Exploring the issue of textile waste was enlightening, and it is knowledge I plan to carry into my professional life, in the future,”, said Madina.
“The concept of recycling, repurposing, and reusing is a great way of remaking something new.”
Neuthread is a brand created by Daisy Chain, a charity based in Stockton-on-Tees that supports neurodivergent individuals, and transforms textile waste into high-fashion couture.
Over the last five months, students on the BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Promotion programme have taken unwanted textiles and garments to create new pieces that went on display at an exhibition at the university’s Priestman Building.
BA Fashion Design and Promotion’s Neuthread exhibition at the Priestman Building Gallery Picture: DAVID WOOD
Students were tasked to research and evaluate the issue of textile waste and repurpose products to create garments that can be sold by the brand.
Madina added: “The project has helped me enhance my creative skills but has also provided a valuable perspective on sustainability. It has encouraged me to think innovatively about how creativity and sustainable practices can intersect, contributing to a more conscientious approach in work and beyond.”
The dress created by Madina Mammadova Picture: DAVID WOOD
BA Fashion Design and Promotion’s Neuthread exhibition at the Priestman Building Gallery Picture: DAVID WOOD
Cárá Baumann, Senior Corporate Partnership, Events and Design Manager at Daisy Chain, said: “We are so happy to work with the University of Sunderland and the fashion students to help support their education on the huge issue of textiles waste.
Daisy Chain CEO Neeraj Sharma, with Senior Corporate Partnership, Events and Design Manager, Cr Beumann and Johnathon Pickard, Head of Business Development join students Moses Akaho, Olivia McCready, Diianeira Zympoulaki and Anisha Chowdhury along with Jayne Smith, Programme Leader during their visit to the BA Fashion Design and PromotionÕs Neuthread exhibition at the Priestman Building Gallery Picture: DAVID WOOD
“Our charity receives thousands of bags of textiles as donations and the majority of that still ends up as waste.”
She added: “The Neuthread brand has been developed to breathe life into these discarded fabrics, and this partnership has enabled us to support students to look at how the textiles can be re-used and, importantly, to develop skills that they can take with them into the fashion houses and onwards in their careers.”
Sustainability has become an increasingly prominent issue within fashion and a fixture in the Fashion Design and Promotion courses at the university.
Laura Middlemass, Sustainability Manager at the University of Sunderland, said: “Universities as a whole have a huge role to play in meeting the environmental challenges the world is facing, and one of our greatest impacts will be the positive changes our students go on to make throughout their lives and careers long after they have left us.”
“It is so important that we ensure sustainability skills for the future are included throughout all our faculties, right across the curriculum, and it is great to see the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries and specifically the Fashion Design and Promotion course doing this with real enthusiasm and in a way that genuinely adds value to the student experience and benefits the planet.”
