SUSTAINABLE clothing designed by students at Highlands College is to be sold at Coopers Coffee at Castle Quay and online after a launch event yesterday.
The designs were produced by students in the arts department with themes ranging from ethically-grown coffee to fast fashion.
The items are made by, Teemill, a UK-based sustainable print company which makes new clothing from old items returned by customers.
Chantal Venton, a lecturer in Highlands College’s arts department, said that this generation of students was much more willing to adopt sustainable habits.
She said: ‘This generation, and the creative kids particularly, are quite aware of it. They’re scouring the charity shops already because they’re wanting things that are not off the rail.
‘They want the peculiar, vintage, off-the-wall fashion, to communicate their identities in their way.
‘We are very proactive during their project work in embedding sustainable, political and social issues.’
The project is part of a push to include more client-based projects to give students practical work experience.
It also aligns with the college’s sustainability strategy, which has seen courses in all areas bring eco-friendly elements into the curriculum. This included the culinary arts course where students work with local growers. Meanwhile, art students are hosting recycling and repurposing events, and hair and beauty students are taking a sustainable-salon module.
Students at Highlands are also required to take a Future Skills module on top of their normal studies, which covers sustainability, digital skills and key competencies that careers ask for.
The module has been ‘a huge success’, according to the college’s marketing and communications manager Lucy Fosse.
T-shirts will be available from Coopers Coffee at Castle Quay and online from highlands-college-creative-arts.teemill.com.
