There is no doubt we live in a world of low cost ‘disposable’ fashion and clothing, and many would say the art of repairing and mending clothes is one of the past. However a group of Transition Years from St.Vincent’s school are determined to prove this is not the case.
Today FM’s newsreader Kim Buckley admitted on air recently that she was unable to sew or even attach a button, referring to an article about the negative effects of fast fashion. TY students Emily Boylan, Isabel Holmes, Zara O’Shea and Clara Hanna decided to contact the anchor and offer to teach her these basic skills live on air. They travelled to the studio in Dublin alongside their teacher Dervilia Hargadon, where they took part in the challenge during the popular Ian Dempsey show. They successfully taught Kim to sew on a button, along with some basic embroidery stitches, helping on her journey to becoming Kim Haberdashian.
As Dervilia explained ‘Cheap clothing and shoes have become an enormous issue in today’s world, both from an environmental viewpoint, but also in terms of labour exploitation. The issue of disposable fashion is one the girls feel strongly about and they want to encourage fellow students to repair and recycle clothing rather than simply dumping it when it’s no longer wanted. They had great visit to the Today FM studio where we were warmly welcomed by Ian, Kim and the team.’