University News Last updated 20 February 2012
Fashion students from Birmingham City University were inspired by those who experienced wartime austerity and the dangers of the home front as part of a challenge to re-interpret 1940s fashions for the 21st century.
Eight second-year fashion students have created a range of eye-catching designs which echo the ‘make-do-and-mend’ philosophy of World War Two, famous for its shortages. The collection features reclaimed fabrics, Union Jack-style dresses and converted military uniforms.
To get first-hand accounts of life during the wartime period students met members of the Birmingham Air Raids Remembrance Association (BARRA)
Students and BARRA members will be reunited on Tuesday, February 21, from 2.30pm when one fashion piece will be selected for public display as part of a special exhibition as part of the new Birmingham History Galleries to be launched in October this year.
The gathering of the two generations will take place at the University’s Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD), based at Gosta Green, near Birmingham city centre.
“The students found this project both inspirational and, at times, quite moving when hearing first-hand about people’s wartime experiences,” said Bob Manning, Senior Lecturer in Fashion at Birmingham City University.
He also said the University was very proud to be supporting the new Birmingham History Galleries is part of a £9million project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.