People in Hollingbury are learning how to turn old clothes into trendy retro fashion gear. Varndean College launched a Recycled Fashion course at the Gathering Place in Stanmer Heights last Friday. It is part of the College’s community education programme and has attracted residents from all over the Hollingbury area.

The college says: “The course is aimed at anyone who enjoys clothes and textiles and encourages participants to design and reconstruct garments and get new ideas from old.”

The group use donations from local charity shops and other discarded items and revamp them using beading, scrap material and crochet. Ena Ashmore, who writes the for the Hollingbury Hello website, said that she had always liked the idea of revamping her old clothes but that it was the course that really got her interested as she enjoys doing it as part of a group.

Debbie Mallard, Adult Education Outreach Worker at the College said: “The course is fantastic and fun, and also very relevant in this day and age, both from the recycling point of view but also in the recession where adapting clothing is cheaper than buying something new.”

Brighton has a wealth of retro clothing shops in town but this course gives Hollingbury residents the chance to produce their own alternative fashion on their doorstep.