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A woman with long black braids leans on a heavily grafitti-d wall and gazes intently at the camera. she is wearing a corset top and chaps made of recycled bowling shoes.
Outfit created by Rose Brown, a designer featured in our Runway Show.

Our team has been so inspired and fired up after undertaking the privilege of being Oxford’s Hub for Sustainable Fashion Week. As one of just a few Hubs nationwide, we knew this was an unmissable opportunity to showcase local talent, promote what we do here at Cherwell Collective, and highlight the current state of the fashion industry at a critical time.

According to estimations by Cherwell Collective using our Carbon Cost calculator, an average UK outfit has a carbon cost equivalent to driving a standard car 70 miles. With almost 67 million people in the UK, clothing us for just a single day costs the planet the equivalent of 4 billion car miles. On the other hand, if we wore our clothes a bit longer, we could reduce emissions and save money. Consumers waste almost 500 billion US dollars each year throwing away wearable clothing.

Our fashion week activity aims to help the community understand the climate consequences of clothing production while proving that you can choose more sustainable options and still be stylish. Read on to find out more about our Sustainable Fashion Week events, including a Sustainable Runway Show, Carbon Cost of Fashion Exhibition, Clothing Swap, and Clothing Repair Workshop. 

Re:Fashion Sustainable Runway Show: 24

A playful look at The Orangery, where our runway show will be hosted

Our inaugural sustainable fashion runway show, Re:Fashion, will feature more than 20 local designers, including Oxfam, who have created sustainable outfits from donated clothes as part of their Second Hand September campaign. Materials used include recycled materials or upcycled clothes that have been reworked and refashioned. 

Attendees will experience the UNESCO World Heritage site Blenheim Palace, which has generously agreed to host the show in the Palace’s historic Orangery.

With Re:Fashion, we aim to celebrate local artistry in rethinking materials to divert them from landfills. It will be a joyous evening with music and food alongside a flourish of innovation. The evening will be MC’ed by BBC Radio’s Sophie Law.

“We are so excited to showcase these incredible local designers. It’s incredible to see the diversity of work created and how everyone has taken on totally different approaches to sustainability. It really shows that there are thousands of ways to be more sustainable when it comes to fashion!

The night will have a really fun vibe with a local DJ from Young Women’s Music Project, photo booth, light display and more. 

We’re really proud to include a diverse range of models and challenge the idea that fashion is just for one type of person. It’s for every style, every budget, and every body – and it can all be done sustainably”.  – Event producer Anna Sturrock

Reinforcing the creative nature of the show, we have encouraged guests to follow a “dress to progress” dress code: Sport secondhand style, re-wear an outfit you already have, or get creative and rework something new to show off!

Carbon Cost of Fashion Exhibit: 23-27 September at the Stables Cafe, Blenheim Palace.

WISH has created a one-of-a-kind interactive exhibit showcasing the impact of fashion on our planet and the small, easy steps we can take to live more sustainably. 

Through immersive storytelling, visitors will witness the environmental repercussions of the industry and be guided towards changes we can each make to protect the planet. The exhibit is free of charge.

We have some incredible partners contributing, such as Oxfam who have donated three festival dresses, and Amelia Wylam who grows root fabric. We’re also featuring international innovations including sneak peaks at Particles of Color, an American research lab creating plant based fashion materials. Finally, we’ve partnered with UK designers from all over, including a group in Hull sharing creations that are the product of international collaboration between American designers and REfactory, who specialise in recycling hard to reuse materials. 

We are especially grateful to Morgan Optometry for their generosity in sponsoring the creation of this exhibit, from printing of plaques to transport in an electric vehicle. We are grateful for the support of such a local business. 

After the exhibit at Blenheim, these pieces will go on tour, with some portions on display at WISH in Kidlington until January 2025. 

Clothing Swap at Tap Social Oxford: 28 September, 12pm-5pm, The Taproom, Curtis Industrial Estate.

Find new clothes, help reduce waste, and enjoy free pizza: What’s not to love? 

An easy, effective way to reduce our carbon footprint is to keep items in circulation as long as possible – and one way to do that is to partake in a clothing swap. Mark your calendars and turn up for this wonderful way to support a local circular economy! Hosted with Tap Social, you can bring up to 10 items of clothing, and exchange for anything you like. Or, pay per kilo for clothes if you aren’t able to bring any items in. Please only bring items in good condition that someone could enjoy. No booking required, just pop by and enjoy.

The day will also feature elements from our aforementioned exhibition for Sustainable Fashion Week. There will also be Free Pizza from Tap Social’s delicious Proof Pizza.

Jeans and Jumpers: Autumn Clothing Repair Workshop: 29 September 2pm-4pm, Makespace, 1 Aristotle Lane, Oxford

Grab your cosy autumn garb and bring it to this workshop for some TLC. Join our experts to learn repair skills, get advice, and enjoy delicious refreshments. No previous skills are necessary. We’ll even teach you to thread a needle! Bring a sewing kit if you have one, or we can share. If you’re looking for help darning a jumper you might want to find some wool that you’d like to use. (This could be matching or in a contrasting colour). We will have spare denim for patches and spare needles, threads, pins, scissors etc., if you don’t bring your own. This event is hosted by the fantastic team at SHARE Oxford.

RSVP: Not required, but we’d like a sense of head count, so please email repaircafe@shareoxford.org if you plan to attend.

So far our Waste Innovation Station Hub (WISH) project has kept more than 224,000 car miles’ worth of clothing and textiles in circulation through repurposing, redistribution (think clothing swaps), and repairing. We also know this figure is low, given that many of the wonderful clothing items that you share through our Cherwell Larder Marketplace are never logged or measured.

We are so proud to present to you our fashion week programme. See you at the catwalk!