Rovers Returns as Students Create Fashion from Old Football Kits

Fashion students at Blackburn College have created an exclusive collection of sportswear – all made from recycled football kit.

The unique collection was created by Year 3 fashion students at the top college, who transformed bin bags full of old Blackburn Rovers football kit into eye-catching street style clothes.

The catwalk-worthy creations feature over 25 pieces, including crop tops made from training vests, skorts from shorts, and even accessories, such as tote bags made from football shirts, and gloves from football socks.

This unique project was the brainchild of Blackburn College Senior Lecturer in Fashion and Textiles, Danielle Slinger, and involved more than a dozen students, as both designers and models.

Danielle said:

“We wanted to encourage the students to think about clothing waste and how garments could be refashioned and repurposed.

“I wanted to give the students the experience of a real life brief, and to engage with local employers in a meaningful way.

“So I approached Blackburn Rovers to ask what they did with their old and unused football kit and if we could recycle them into new clothes.

“Next thing I knew, we collecting bags full of kit from Rovers and the students began the task of recycling all the garments, using every piece of fabric possible.

“Nothing was wasted, and I think the results speak for themselves.”

The students relished the challenge, embracing the deeper meaning of recycling what would have been sent to landfill.

Aside from being part of their course work, the project also had a commercial focus – the clothes had to be saleable.

Danielle added:

“Globally, 92 million tonnes of fashion waste are produced annually, much of it going into landfall.

“By doing this project with the students, we’ve taken just a small amount of that waste, transformed it into wearable clothing and are raising money at the same time for a community charity.”

Fashion and textiles student Rihana Akter, 18, admits it was a challenge creating new clothes from old football kit.

She said:

“I decided to look into the history of Blackburn Rovers as a starting point for my designs. The colours were important.

“I then took the garments apart piece by piece and worked out what would go where and what would work well.

“I also had to think about what I was making, and whether somebody buy this. I made two bags out of pairs of shorts, and they look fantastic.

“I really like style features such as a bell sleeve, so I was able to use fabric from the different pieces of football kit, even tracksuit pants, to create a crop top with the accent on the sleeves.”

Isaak Redfearn made a complete outfit using old Rovers home and away kits.

The 17-year-old said:

“It’s more difficult to take apart the garments and turn them into something new.

“It’s much harder than starting with fabric that has never been used before, but I find the results so much more rewarding.”

Hannah Grimes, 18, created eye-catching crop tops and skater-style shorts.

She said:

“We all had to use as much of the fabric as we possibly could – even the zips, buttons and other fastenings.

“It was challenging, but great fun to let your imagination go.”

Yasir Sui, Head of Commercial and partnerships at Blackburn Rovers is delighted at the outcome of the project.

He said:

“At the end of every season we have kit that has either been worn or not sold in the shop that comes back to us.

“Those clothes usually get to put in a cupboard somewhere and later be donated to a charity overseas.

“This is the perfect way of upcycling the kit, and it is brilliant seeing the fantastic items of clothing these students have made.”

The designers and their models, who were all Year 1 textiles students at the college, took part in a special fashion shoot pitch side at Ewood Park with their catwalk-ready creations.

The entire collection is to be auctioned online by Blackburn Rovers and money raised will go towards their Club’s community trust project supporting a homeless and refugee football team later this year.