Discover how Birmingham City University students partnered with The British Red Cross to upcycle donated garments into innovative, sustainability-focused fashion brands.
What is the The British Red Cross x BCU project and what does it involve?
As part of our final first-year module, students from Birmingham City University’s Fashion Communication, Fashion Design, and Textile Design courses collaborated on a project in partnership with The British Red Cross. The objective was to design a brand using upcycled garments and materials donated to The British Red Cross. This initiative encouraged us to reimagine, repurpose, and repair pre-owned clothing to develop unique brand concepts.
Each group chose one of five key themes: Protopia, Heritage, Circular & Regenerative, Localism, or Community & The Hidden City. The project aimed not only to develop our creative and technical skills but also to raise awareness of the importance of sustainability within the fashion industry. As future professionals in this field, it is crucial that we begin engaging with practices that support a more responsible and environmentally conscious approach to design.
How did students support one another throughout the project?
Collaboration played a central role in this project. Students from different specialisms came together to share knowledge, techniques, and creative approaches. This multidimensional teamwork allowed us to expand our individual skill sets while gaining insights from peers with different academic and practical backgrounds, such as individuals taking a different course.
Working in groups also helped us develop essential communication and project management skills, which will be invaluable in our future careers. Beyond the technical benefits, the collaborative environment created a sense of community among us as students. These stronger interpersonal connections contributed to a more supportive and engaging learning experience, benefiting both students and lecturers alike. This community will benefit us greatly moving onto our final year as students will be more likely to participate in creating things together.
Fashion & Textiles Courses
Find out more about our courses
What kind of work was produced?
The outcomes of the project demonstrated a high level of creativity, craftsmanship, and thoughtfulness. Students produced a wide range of items, including crochet handbags, multifunctional hoodie-backpacks, structured garments such as corsets made from recycled materials and future thinking denim pieces.
The group awarded “Best Group” (Group B3) launched a brand called Reance. They created a striking corset and skirt ensemble from old jeans donated to The British Red Cross, with a strong focus on sustainability and circular fashion.
The runners-up (Group A2) introduced Goodie Hoodie, a brand that designed hoodie-backpacks tailored to meet the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness or people in need of more practical storage solutions. Their concept offered warmth, functionality, and practical storage, aligning their fashion solutions with real-world social issues.
Overall, each group invested significant time and effort into their work. The project not only allowed us to refine our practical skills but also deepened our understanding of fashion’s environmental impact. By participating in this collaboration with The British Red Cross, we were able to explore the role we play as emerging designers and communicators in shaping a more sustainable fashion future.
How does BCU working with the British Red Cross benefit students and the brand?
We asked the British Red Cross this question and this was their response:
"As sustainability and circular fashion solutions become increasingly important to the British Red Cross, our Gift in Kind donors and customer base, diversifying our sustainable solutions is very important to us.
Working with BCU is a wonderful collaboration; We hope it benefits students by not only providing them with practical examples of un-sellable items to re-imagine but hopefully will give the students an insight into the types of garment fabric faults that occur which may influence their material choices in future designs. For the British Red Cross, it is an exciting chance to see the fantastic ideas of re-use and re-imagined items come to life and influence how we evolve in making the most of fabrics from garments we are unable to sell."
Alexandra Ehlen
Stock Generation Manager, British Red Cross – Retail.