Fashioning the future one recycled gown at a time

In every closet is at least one old suit or gown long out of fashion and destined for the landfill once the sentimental value has expired.

That was true for Donnalee Riley's mother, whose silk skirt suit was never to be worn again. 

So Riley, a design student at the University of Alberta, made it her project to recycle the old into something new.

It was part of a class project where design students were challenged to take unwanted clothing selected for fabric quality or sentimentality and upcycle the material into something fashionable, saving the material from the landfill.

The results can be seen at the exhibition: re-Vision and re-Turn: Exploring sustainable fashion, on until Sept. 30 at the Human Ecology Building.

Watch the video to see more of the exhibit.