Students turn old football kits into fashion

Blackburn Rovers have been celebrating one of their greatest ever saves - but this time it did not involve a goalkeeper and instead was a bid to tackle climate change by upcycling old kits.

The club asked local fashion students to repurpose kits which were heading to landfill and create a unique collection of clothing, which included skorts, a bell-sleeved jumper and a bag.

It is part of Green Football's Great Save which rallies the entire football community from fans, players and pundits to keep kits out of landfill to protect football and the planet.

The reimagined designs by Blackburn College students, which were on show at Ewood Park, will be auctioned off to raise money for charity.

Second year fashion and film and media students from Blackburn College collaborated on the project.

They transformed 25 garments, which included taking waist bands off shorts to transform them into crop tops, upcycling track suits into eye-catching jackets and a bag made from two pairs of shorts.

Film and media students then filmed as the collection was showcased on the pitch.

Textile and fashion student Rihana, who whipped up the bag, said she wanted to put her own spin on all her designs.

"I don't really follow football but if I did I would want to wear something that represents me but also still supports the team so I wanted to add some bell sleeves to the jumper," she said.

Another student Isaak created skorts - which has the appearance of a skirt but has built-in shorts underneath - and a cropped top from a goalkeepers shirt to add to the collection.

Daniella Slinger, course leader of textiles and fashion at Blackburn College, said: "The fashion industry wastes 92 million tonnes per year globally and almost half of that goes into landfill.

"So what we've done with this project is just take a small amount that waste that would have sat in landfill and take it apart, put it back together and create something completely new from it."

Blackburn Rovers said the clothing collection will now be sold in an online auction with the proceeds going towards a homeless, refugee and asylum seeker football team supported by the club.

Yasir Sufi, head of commercial and partnerships at Blackburn Rovers, praised the innovative creations produced by the students and said it was a "fantastic initiative" to save kits from going into landfill while also raising money for a great cause.

"It's a win for everyone," he said.

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