Gray’s students take inspiration from Braemar Castle to produce sustainable fashion range
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BRAEMAR Castle has provided the inspiration for a unique fashion collection.
Fashion and Textile students from Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University unveiled their creations as part of Gray’s Fashion Show at Aberdeen Art Gallery on Friday, May 5.
It was the first to be held at Aberdeen Art Gallery since Covid, and featured students across Fashion and Textiles at Gray’s including 20 first year students involved in the Braemar Castle Project.
There were two shows in all – one for schools, colleges, teachers and industry and the other for friends, family and RGU Executives _ which were watched by a combined total of 330 people.
The Gray’s students who are part of the Braemar Castle Project created garments that relate to the castle, using preloved garments donations from RGU’s Kaim Co-operative, which is a second-hand shop run by RGU’s Go Green Society.
The students have created an ethical and sustainable fashion range, based on the theme ‘Braemar
Castle past and present’ by deconstructing and re-designing garments to reflect Braemar Castle.
While there has been no limit to what students could create the brief stated that the designs must be wearable and all of the garments must be used.
Elaine Gowans, Head of Fashion and Textiles at Gray’s School of Art, said: “We have been working with Braemar Castle to create a fashion collection that addresses issues of landfill and over-consumerism by re-purposing and upcycling existing garments.
“The saying ‘one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure’ was the perfect incentive for this project. Understanding the sourcing of and working with, a variety of different materials has provided real opportunities for innovation and inventions amongst our Design students. By creating cutting edgedesigns, which spread the word about sustainability in the carbon heavy fashion and textile industries, we are helping to encourage our students to be ethical designers.
“It has been great to work with the team from Braemar Castle to create a sustainable fashion range and we are looking forward to displaying the fashion collection at Braemar Castle’s reopening in the autumn.”
Angus Lallah, a first-year Fashion and Textile student from Inverness, added: “For my project, I had a kid’s raincoat and a slip dress, which were two complete opposites of each other.
"Using these, I took the approach of using materials from the jacket to create rigid structures, much like the ones seen in the castle. I combined them with drapes and pleats commonly found in Jacobite dress.
“The aim of the work was to work with pieces of clothing as they are rather than cut away and waste them. I was able to use all 59 pieces of my second-hand clothing to create my Braemar Castle garment.”
The students met with a team from Braemar Castle including owner Rosie Jones, who brought the castle to life by means of a 3D interactive model. The students gathered inspiration in and around
the Castle, its ever-changing history and its most famous occupants including Frances Farquharson and her relationship to fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, former editor of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines, who is understood to have visited the castle on many occasions.
Rosie Jones, Community Engagement Co-ordinator Braemar Castle, said: “The castle is run by the small but energetic community of Braemar who are always eager to widen the castle’s welcome.
"Hence, we are delighted, through the Raising the Standard Project and National Lottery Heritage Funding, to be able to partner with Gray’s School of Art first year Fashion and Textile students in this inaugural sustainable fashion project.
“The castle’s setting, fascinating history, and links to the world of fashion are all great sources of inspiration which can be seen in the designs produced by these wonderfully creative students."
