Organizers: Waimea and Nelson Soroptimist clubs and The Nelson Tasman Climate Forum

In NZ, an estimated 180,000 tonnes of clothing and textile waste is dumped into landfills annually. Heaps of clothes are also sitting in warehouses and wardrobes. Before buying new clothes, can we challenge ourselves to buy second-hand, or repair, restyle and reuse? 

With these thoughts in mind, we are inviting school students from year 7 up to take on a 'Repair with Flair' clothing challenge. By using clothes discarded because of a tear or buttons missing, etc., or items found in the wonderful Opshops we have available, the challenge is to reuse, restyle, and upmarket to make an entirely different garment to be paraded at the event described below. Prizes will be given for the most creative, best background story, and best workmanship. We hope your school can get the word out there and encourage students to take on the challenge. Participating students are asked to enter their details here: https://forms.gle/zAcdUXisYXTs8Mu77. 

Waimea and Nelson Soroptimist clubs and The Nelson Tasman Climate Forum are holding a big event to encourage all of us to be more conscious and environmentally aware when purchasing clothes. This event will be on Saturday 25th May from 11:30am to 3:30pm (the fashion show begins at 1pm) at the Pūtangitangi Greenmeadows venue in Stoke. Repair cafes will be there as well. Entry is free. Light food will be available at a small cost. 

This event is building on a very successful event the Waimea Soroptimist Club ran last September called “The Clothing Revolution”.