Styled for good: Students take sustainable fashion and eco-styling to Red Cross Op Shops

Diploma of Fashion Styling students recently completed a live industry brief, producing social media content for Australian Red Cross across two iconic Melbourne locations.

Across four days at the Red Cross op shops in Malvern and Northcote, students styled donated looks, directed shoots, and delivered a full suite of content including stills, behind-the-scenes footage, and short-form video for Red Cross’ social channels.

The partnership, endorsed by Red Cross Retail Area Manager Simone Sampson, was designed to give students access to a real client brief and the creative constraints that come with it.

Student Camryn acted as the model for the day and was styled in two looks sourced entirely from recycled fashion.

For students Lakeisha Hopper and Zoe Walters, the project was both a professional milestone and a personal one. Both came to the Diploma with a lifelong love of fashion and found the course has given them opportunities they never expected.

"I've always loved fashion even before I really understood what it was. Dressing up and creating my own outfits is something I've been doing since I was three," said Zoe. "I decided to study this course because I wanted to change my life and get more experience in what I love. RMIT has such an amazing reputation for fashion, so it was a no brainer."

Lakeisha echoed that sentiment and noted how the Red Cross brief built on skills developed throughout the course in a way that felt meaningfully different.

"We are lucky to have been able to practice work similar to this during earlier courses like personal styling and photography, but this is the first time we've been able to collaborate with a business. Getting to come to location and search through the racks for our styling options has been a really unique experience," she said.

Both students spoke to the breadth of what the course delivers beyond fashion fundamentals. "The most surprising thing about this course is how much it covers," said Zoe.

I was not expecting to gain experience in photography and events; I'm learning so much more than just fashion.

Zoe's advice to future students is straightforward; "Give this course all you've got. It's so much fun and packed with information. Make the most of it by jumping in with both feet. Challenge yourself and you'll come out with some amazing work."

Program teachers Sue Robinson and Lucy Adam shaped the assessment around the collaboration, using it as an opportunity to embed sustainable thinking into practice.

Lakeisha searches through the Malvern location, looking for options to style for the assessment.

"It was a privilege working on the Red Cross project with the students," said Adam.

"It gave us a real-world sustainability challenge around re-use and textile waste, and I left with a deeper appreciation for the incredible work the Red Cross does. Plus, it was genuinely fun to hang out in an op shop for our class assessment and translate that energy into engaging marketing content with a great purpose."

Working in small groups, students combed through racks of donated clothing to find pieces that could be brought together into fresh, considered looks. Robinson described the creative challenge as unlike any conventional brief.

"The assessment was almost like a treasure hunt as they searched through the racks to find pieces and items that can come together to style up interesting fresh looks," she said. "It was amazing to see them challenge themselves to reinterpret pieces into something that didn't exist until they put it all together."

The eco-styling course offered within the Diploma of Fashion Styling leans into a sustainable practice that is reshaping the fashion industry, and RMIT students are learning to lead that change.

By embedding circular thinking and responsible consumption directly into coursework, RMIT equips graduates with not just technical styling skills, but the values and awareness that define the next generation of fashion professionals.

Learn more about the Diploma of Fashion Styling course at RMIT.

22 June 2026

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