King’s Foundation to auction off upcycled curtains turned fashion pieces
The seven items were made by students working with the Future Textiles team
Curtains which once hung in Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace will take on a new life as one-off fashion pieces, after a project by the King’s Foundation in East Ayrshire.
The foundation’s Future Textiles programme, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year, has been working to give high level training to school pupils and college graduates looking to learn more about luxury fashion.
Alongside this, they have been working to reduce the amount of waste produced through fast fashion, by reusing old materials for a variety of items, from pillows to bags to jackets.
For this project, Dumfries House received a number of old royal curtains, which have been upcycled into seven kimonos to be auctioned off.
Education Director for the foundation in Ayrshire, Jacqueline Farrell, wants people to know it is not just about making a collection to be sold though.
She said: “We hope this project will show what can be done with vintage materials in terms of repurposing and upcycling.
“It was a real design challenge for the students in how to make traditional styles of fabrics into contemporary, appealing designs.
“They have created unique garments that are really versatile and reflect a piece of history.”
One of the aims of the project was to keep up with the foundation’s zero-waste targets, so leftover cut-offs, even tiny scraps, will be kept to be repurposed by schools the charity works with.
At the auction, people will be able to bid with the chance to own one of four Delft Blue Floral Kimono coats, one Vintage Rose and Duck Egg short Kimono, one Damask Burnt Orange and Teal short Kimono, and one Bold Denim Blue and Yellow Damask short Kimono.
The students were tasked with repurposing the 30 different patterns from the 50 metre delivery into a modern fashion collection fit for retail, and some of the pieces they’ve produced took eight to ten hours to complete.
Jacqueline said: “It’s really important that we teach everyone, or as many people as we can, how to make clothes, the time and effort that goes into them, the importance of where the fabric comes from, the land that grows the fibre or rears the animals.
“All of that’s a really intensive process, and when we don’t take that seriously enough, people tend to get caught up in fast fashion, they buy more clothes than they need, they buy clothes and just discard them quickly.”
She added: “There really isn’t a need for us to be consuming fashion at the rate that we are, so by showing people how to sew and to make your own clothes, there’s an appreciation of the time and the effort and the skill that goes into them.”
The Kimonos will be auctioned off online alongside other collectables and experiences including dinner in The Garden Room at Highgrove Gardens, and stays in Dumfries House Lodge.
Jacqueline said it was “exciting” to be able to work with fabric of such history, saying: “It was a surprise to our Future Textiles team at the foundation when we were offered the fabric, and to know it came from Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and that we were allowed to work with it and turn it into new product.”
The auction closes online at 23:59 on Friday 8 December.