Reimagining fashion accessories for Melbourne Fashion Week

Reimagining fashion accessories for Melbourne Fashion Week

RMIT students have worked with Sans Beast to reconfigure and upcycle handbags into creative fashion accessories to be displayed during Melbourne Fashion Week.

RMIT Bachelor of Fashion and Textiles (Design) (Honours) students partnered with the Australian-based luxe vegan fashion brand to upcycle bags with minor faults to add value back to the product, through creative innovation.  

Students embraced the concept of reconfiguration - rearranging something into an altered form and configuring it again in a new way. They also explored the concept of upcycling, examining how to change use, increase resell value and reimagine the way materials are used to extend their life.  

Lady in front of an iPhone holding a leather handbag Students worked with Sans Beast to reconfigure and upcycle handbags with minor faults into creative fashion statements.

“This project wasn't about sticky tape and staples. Our students were applying skill, craftsmanship and creativity at an advanced level,” said Chantal Kirby, Program Manager Bachelor of Fashion (Design)(Honours).

Throughout the past semester, students participated in a series of masterclasses exploring approaches to upcycling and developed a series of prototypes that are being showcased as a part of the Melbourne Fashion Week Fashion Capsules. 

“Students have had an open scope to reinterpret what a bag could be. They were encouraged to be thinking about objects and other types of artifacts. It was about prototypes that might provoke thinking around the idea of reconfiguration and upcycling.”

Collaborating to boost creativity   

Sans Beast founder Cathryn Wills said she chose to partner with RMIT on this project to put creativity and innovation as the priority. 

Cathryn Wills in front of a green wall Cathryn Wills established Sans Beast in 2017. after recognising a disconnect between her professional role and her ethical stance on animal welfare and the environment.

“As an independent brand working to survive and thrive, the business metrics can often become the primary focus. I want us to always remember that creative thinking and continuous improvement is central to our growth – both personal and professional,” Wills said.

“The idea of Sans Beast partnering with the RMIT School of Fashion and Textiles was exciting, in that it meant doing a project that was purely focused on innovative solutions to upcycling in fashion. Scale, sales, profit – none of this mattered for this project – it was just about getting ideas into the incubator and igniting creative flow.” 

Associate Dean Fashion and Textiles Design, Ricarda Bigolin said “This partnered project between RMIT and Sans Beast is a fantastic opportunity for our students to gain hands-on experience and for our staff to strengthen their connections to Australia’s fashion industry. RMIT’s School of Fashion and Textiles consistently seeks to embed ethical, sustainable and circular economy practices into our curriculum and we’re excited to work with a brand that shares this ethos.”  

From RMIT and back again  

A graduate of RMIT in 1990s, Cathryn was excited to have the opportunity to reconnect with her university. 

“I look back on my RMIT chapter with enormous fondness,” she said. 

“I’m so grateful to have had the years of study, practise, discipline and creativity that the RMIT experience offered me – not to mention the lifelong friends I made while patternmaking, sewing, sketching and stressing together!"

“It was a nostalgic blast from the past – lovely all round to be back there. The faculty team were incredibly welcoming and have been such a delight to partner with.”  

2 images of Cathryn Wills from the 1990s, left standing in front of a statue and right standing in front of a gate Cathryn Wills on a 1995 RMIT trip to Europe, featuring a handmade and tie-dyed dress (left)

She hopes that students participating in this project will embrace concepts of upcycling as they begin their careers in fashion. 

“The future of fashion will increasingly be about reconfiguration and upcycling.  A lot needs to evolve in the industry of course – for one, manufacturing at scale with an upcycled design model is not straightforward – however the students of today will be the creative leaders of tomorrow,” she said. 

“I suspect upcycling doesn’t resonate with all – but undoubtedly there will be a cohort of todays’ students who will be the changemakers in the thrift-led fashion economy.”

Visit Fashion Capsule 5 located in Melbourne's Emporium building during Melbourne Fashion Week (October 10 to 16) to see the outcomes of this collaboration.

Story: Nick Adams

12 October 2022

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12 October 2022

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