Scots fashion designers will transform piles of second-hand clothes into catwalk collections as part of a campaign against waste.

After fending off tough competition, designer Aimee Kent and Black Cherry Studios were picked for the challenge by Zero Waste Scotland and the Salvation Army Trading Company.

The initiative, part of the Love Your Clothes campaign, will see designers embark on a 12-week project to create two new couture collections from 150 kilos of unwanted garments they have been handed into charity shops or dropped off in donation bins.

The aim of the campaign is to encourage people not to throw clothes away and they always have a value.

Textiles expert Aimee Kent has worked with Scottish designer Henrietta Ludgate and Niki Taylor from sustainable store The Top Project and fashion label Olanic.

Glasgow-based Black Cherry textile print studio have supplied Kookai, Jaques Vert and Primark.

Lynn Wilson, textiles manager, Zero Waste Scotland said: “The project aims to encourage Scots to pass on or donate old clothes first and recycle second.

"All textiles have a value and can be used again and again; clothing should never be put in the bin.

“I believe that with a little TLC, most unwanted clothing can be transformed into something valuable. We really want people to see there is worth in their clothes.

“To really bring this message home, we teamed up with the Salvation Army to launch a unique competition among Scotland’s most talented fashion and textiles designers to see what they could create from the cast offs.

“Our two fabulous winners are eager to get started by hand-picking their staple pieces from five tonnes of unwanted garments.

“They will then set to work over the next 12 weeks creating a new fashion and textiles collection using this previously unwanted and unsellable clothing.

“It will be interesting to see if anyone recognises their old clothes when we have the big reveal.”

Once the collections are complete, an expert fashion panel will deliver their professional valuations on how much the new pieces are worth.

In the UK alone, garments have an estimated life span of two years, three months.

The average Scottish household owns around £4,000 worth of clothes, but wear only 70 percent of that each year, most commonly because it no longer fits.

It is estimated that £140million worth (350,000 tonnes) of used clothes ends up in landfill each year, which is over 30 percent of our wardrobes.

Joint winner, Aimee Kent said: “This opportunity is the perfect fit for me, because I already run a sustainable surface pattern design which focuses on the re-use of materials.

"I want to create designs that can be worn again and again and never go out of style. That’s what I intend to do here.”

Speaking of the upcoming challenge, Jemma Wood, owner of Black Cherry Studio, said: “It feels absolutely amazing to have been selected.

"We were blown away when we heard the news. I have lots of great ideas that I am keen to get started on.

“I want to create a meaningful collection that brings together elements of both the Salvation Army and Zero Waste Scotland.

"Our specialism is textile print, which will breathe new life into the unwanted garments and shoe people that with a little creativity you can turn the unwanted into the desirable.

"I can’t wait to get started.”

The commission will finish at the end of February next year with the collections unveiled in March 2016.