Shop News
Restyled for Oxfam – Irish designers help restyle your wardrobe!
12 March 2009
Oxfam Restyled a unique collection of 50 one-off designs created by a team of ten designers exclusively for Oxfam Ireland, is set to go on sale to the public.
All the designs are made from items reclaimed from Oxfam’s recycling bags and have been reworked and restyled by the individual designer for this limited collection. The full Oxfam Restyled collection will be on sale from the 13th of March at Oxfam’s Georges Street store, with prices ranging from €40 to €120.
All proceeds from the sale will go towards Oxfam’s work fighting global poverty and injustice. For example €40 can be used by Oxfam to support women in Malawi to start up small businesses.
Oxfam Ireland’s District Retail Manager John Adams said: “I love the idea of giving clothes a new life. The Oxfam Restyled collection is stunning. It encourages people to be creative and your purchase has the assurance that you support both sustainability and helping Oxfam to tackle poverty.”
The team of designers who donated their creative talents for Oxfam Restyled range from new graduates to others working full time in fashion and many have their own collections. They are: Lorna Burton, Sabina Cotter, Nathalie Coleman, Dee Gav, Siobhan Glynn, Deirdre Harte, Sinead Kane, Niamh O’Sullivan, Freya Oatway and Michelle Smyth.
One of the designers involved, Sabina Cotter, said: “I am delighted to be involved in Oxfam Restyled. I love recreating and reinventing and Oxfam’s recycling bags are bursting with inspiration”.
Proving that sustainable clothing can be both stylish and trend-led, Oxfam hopes the collection will inspire fashion lovers to scour their local Oxfam store for chic pieces at giveaway prices, restyle their own purchases, while also encouraging donations of any discarded yet hoarded items.
Notes to Editors
For further information, to arrange interviews or for high res images of the designs please contact Oxfam Ireland’s Media and Communications Executive Paul Dunphy on 01 6350 422 or email paul.dunphy@oxfamireland.org
Additional Information
- The total number of Oxfam Ireland shops all-island is 48. To find the shop nearest to you, please visit www.oxfamireland.org
- Oxfam Ireland's network of 48 shops around the country are vital ways of raising funds for our overseas and campaigning work . Oxfam Ireland works primarily in Africa with programmes currently in Democratic Republic of Congo , Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. By donating good quality goods or making a purchase from an Oxfam shop you are helping us fight poverty and injustice in these countries.
- Lorna Burton is from Bray and gravitated towards fashion design through her use of colour and texture as an artist. She has a Fashion Degree from Bray Senior College and studied at Carmarthenshire College. She has worked work both with an Irish bridal designer and an entrepreneur in the fabric industry. Her latest collection and company, Corallei, creates ornate hand-crafted handbags made from vintage leather and reclaimed fabrics. On working with Oxfam: “The opportunity to work with Oxfam was incredible. Breathing life into reclaimed fabrics by deconstructing, redesigning and restyling was the aim of the project and proves that high moral ethics and high fashion can work as one.”
- Sabina Cotter is originally from Waterford and now works in Dublin with the Irish Youth Foundation in fundraising and marketing. She is studying a fashion diploma by night with the Grafton Academy. She was a runner up in the Re-dress ethical fashion design competition which Oxfam Ireland sponsored in April 2008. She has a long-held interest in recreating and re-inventing materials. On working with Oxfam: ‘The recycling bags are bursting with inspiration and as you look at each piece you conjecture how you can give it a new life.”
- Natalie Coleman is a graduate from Limerick School of Art and Design after been tagged by Image magazine 2 years ago as being one of ‘Ireland’s Future Fashion Forces’, Natalie went on to work on several collaborations with Dagda Dance Company, an international arts organisation based in Limerick. Currently taking time out from the completion of an MA at London’s Central St. Martins, she is in the process of setting up her own label. The first collection of one-off pieces entitled ‘Damaged Goods’ will be available in stores from April this year. Natalie has previously worked for Joanne Hynes/Dublin, Three as Four/New York, Ragna Froda/Iceland and Arann Knitwear Company/Inis Meain.
- Dee Gavin is originally from Mayo. She now lives in Dublin and teaches piano part time and is studying full-time for a Diploma in Fibre Art and Textiles in Ballyfermot College of Further Education. On working with Oxfam: “The idea of working on the Restyle project appealed to me instantly as I thought it would be great to get access to a huge range of fabrics and to take the challenge of finding potential in garments that would otherwise go to recycling. There is also the element of firstly helping a worthy organisation like Oxfam and secondly contributing to a recycled and more ethical clothing industry.”
- Siobhan Glynn from Co. Wicklow graduated from the Grafton Academy in June 2008. She was the winner of the Grafton Academy Challenge Cup for the most promising student in its 70th Anniversary Fashion Show in April 2008. She also has a degree in Management and Marketing from D.I.T. In 2008 she was the finalist in the Nokia, U.C.D. and D.I.T. Student Fashion competitions. On working with Oxfam: “Oxfam Restyle has given me the chance to display my talents whilst demonstrating to the public what can be achieved with old disused clothes. It was challenging searching through the bags of discarded clothes. Though I believe the limiting nature of the raw material lends to the expansion of the imagination – manipulation of the clothes in unusual ways leads to limitless options that can be achieved.”
- Deirdre Harte graduated from The National College of Art and Design in June 2008 with an honours degree in Textile Design. She was the winner of the ‘Totally Oxfam’ design competition run by Re-dress for the first ever Dublin Ethical Fashion week in April 2008. She was a finalist in The Nokia Young Designer of the Year in February 2008. She also holds a Diploma in Fashion from the Limerick School of Art and Design. The focus for her final year of study was ethical fashion. Ethical fashion represents for her an approach to the design, sourcing and manufacture of clothing, which is both socially and environmentally responsible.
- Sinead Kane is a graduate of The National College of Art and Design. She holds a Bdes Hons in Embroidered Textile Design and a Post Graduate Diploma in Community Arts Education. She was shortlisted for Craft Northern Ireland’s Making It programme in 2007 and was a finalist in the Oxfam Re-dress Fashion Evolution competition in 2008. On working with Oxfam: “The Oxfam Restyle project has given me the opportunity to produce innovative women’s wear garments and accessories from clothes that were destined for landfill. The Oxfam Restyle initiative will encourage people to re-think and re-use pre-loved garments. It is an opportune time for society to change our buying and recycling habits. The initiative gives us an opportunity to take inspiration from the past and make the ‘make do and mend’ approach work again for a new era.”
- Niamh O’Sullivan is originally from Kerry and now works in Dublin as a primary school teacher. She has studied at the Grafton Academy and is currently studying fashion by night and working on her first collection. On working with Oxfam: “I think using recycled fabric is particularly useful for any student of fashion design. As a student, one of the biggest costs involved is the fabric. It can be daunting to try out something new on fabric that cost fifty or sixty euro but if you get it for nothing you are more likely to take risks.”
- Freya Oatway graduated with a diploma from the Grafton Academy in 2008. Throughout her designs the backbone has always been the texture and the sculpture of the pieces.Working with Oxfam: “Oxfam Restyle has given me a new angle to play with. It has let me explore the function and the form of the garments and change them in unusual and exceptional ways.”
- Michelle Smyth is from Meath. She graduated from the Grafton Academy in 2008. Some pieces from her lingerie and bridal and evening wear collections featured in the 70th Anniversary of the Grafton Academy fashion show. Working with Oxfam: “Recycling in fashion is always something I've been interested in but never pursued. After creating pieces from people's dated clothes and seeing what creativity and innovation can be used, it defiantly has encouraged me to keep an open mind to recycling and reusing for future collections. In the current climate there is no better time for people to start recycling and reusing in their wardrobes.”
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