Fashion: Kirsty Spencer has recycled fashion all stitched up with an ethical collection

Sep 10 2009 by Hilarie Stelfox, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Fashion: Kirsty has recycled fashion all stitched up with an ethical collection

The fashion industry is facing increasing criticism for hastening environmental disaster and abusive working practices in developing countries. However, Huddersfield designer Kirsty Spencer produces ethical fashion for a generation brought up with recycling. Hilarie Stelfox reports

KIRSTY SPENCER became passionate about environmental issues in the clothing industry while studying for her BA degree in fashion design.

“One of the things we looked at in our second year was sustainable design. As a research project I started looking at what happens to clothes when they are discarded and the effect on the environment of their production,’’ said Kirsty, 34, who was a mature student.

The project ended up shaping her future.

“I’d always been bothered by ‘fast’ disposable fashion. Our society is very wasteful. So I started looking at ways to recycle clothes and old fabrics.

“It struck a chord with me because I realised that as a designer it’s possible to make a difference,’’ she added.

And so when she graduated last year Kirsty, who lives in Crosland Moor, decided to launch her own label of one-off clothes that have been re-styled or made from secondhand garments or fabrics.

Her eclectic collection includes re-styled evening gowns; mini skirts fashioned from curtain material; patchwork dresses, created by cutting old men’s shirts; and dresses that have been shortened, altered and/or customised.

She has shown her work at the Alternative Fashion Week in London.

Kirsty buys the ‘raw materials’ from vintage wholesalers, focussing on the damaged or stained garments that are unsaleable in vintage shops.

Kirsty recycles the clothes destined for the rag merchant.

“I also look out for lengths of vintage fabrics and buy material from charity shop fabric bins.

“I got some gorgeous material from the Priestley Theatre in Bradford when they were selling off damaged fabrics from the costume department. It was all £1 a metre,’’ she explained.

“I get fabrics and clothes from wherever I can. I look for things with potential and try to repair garments to make them re-saleable.’’

With the growing interest in recycling, ‘make do and mend’ and the growth of charity shopping Kirsty’s business ticks a number of environmentally-friendly boxes but also produces garments with an edgy contemporary feel.

A former Job Centre employee, Kirsty was working as a benefits processor when she realised that she neither liked her job nor wanted to stay in it.

“On my birthday in 2005 I was sent a letter stating what my pension would be and I thought I didn’t want to be there until I was picking up my pension,’’ she said.