Festival tents used to make Fashion Week dress

Alice Bowen-Churchill (R) spent nearly a month making a "sustainable" dress made of recycled festival tents

The designer of a dress made of discarded festival tents says it was a “dream come true” to see her creation modelled at London Fashion Week.

Alice Bowen-Churchill, 43, from Bristol, has made a dress from recycled tents left behind at UK festivals, and includes contributions from Glastonbury Festival goers who were invited to sew messages into the lining.

The blue and green gown was worn by model and actress Eunice Olumide at the Oxfam Style for Change catwalk.

Ms Bowen-Churchill said using tent material to create the look was “key to help people think differently about waste and what it could actually be used for".

Festival-goers were invited to sew messages into the lining of the dress

The dress is made of two tents, complete with guy ropes, hooks and rings, and a second-hand anorak jacket.

It was showcased on 12 September, and designed to highlight the need for a more “sustainable approach” to fashion.

“There was a time when second-hand was thought to be of lesser quality, but that’s not the case at all,” Ms Bowen-Churchill said.

“It’s about encouraging people to be inquisitive and brave and understand that there is another way of buying ‘new’.

“Whether it’s for your kids’ world book day costumes’ or something to wear at a fashion show, it doesn’t have to be brand new.”

The dress was modelled by Eunice Olumide at the Oxfam Style for Change Catwalk

She said seeing her dress open the show, after it took nearly a month to make, was “like a dream come true.”

“I felt so proud and excited about what we had achieved. It felt like such a special event to be part of,” she continued.

Also walking at the fashion show was Dragon Den star Deborah Meaden, from Taunton.

She made her catwalk debut for charity, wearing second-hand designer vintage clothing.

“We know that the fashion industry is having a huge impact on our planet, which is exactly why we need to be talking about sustainable clothes,” she said.