Govan group want Kate and Lily to model their recycled designs

SUPERMODEL Kate Moss is used to wearing hugely expensive outfits from the world's top designers. And singer Lily Allen can have her pick of the best haute couture.

But a Govan group hopes to persuade the stars to wear dresses made from retro fabric and re-cycled 1970s curtains.

Starter Packs Glasgow was set up 10 years ago to offer homeless people moving into permanent accommodation basic goods such as crockery, cutlery, pots and pans and bed linen.

All are recycled and as a result, 174 tons of items have been saved from landfill sites.

Six months ago, development manager Sarah Findlay set up workshops in how to re-cycle jewellery and cards, paint unwanted glass, make a corsage from re-cycled material and models from household junk.

The group will display their skills in the Green Zone at the Glasgow Show on August 1 and 2 and stage fashion shows in the Winter Gardens featuring 38 outfits from re-cycled fabric.

To highlight their work, they are currently finishing a modern prom dress made from re-cycled retro fabric which will be sent to Lily Allen and a shift dress for Kate Moss made from curtains.

Ms Findlay said: "They are both fashion icons and ideally we would like them to be photographed in the outfits.

"What we want is a recognition that outfits can be made from material with a low carbon footprint.

"We receive a huge amount of household goods and in among them are curtains and old table cloths.

"Instead of sending them off to be used as rags, for the past six months we have been running classes teaching dressmaking so people can make their own fashion.

"At the fashion show in the Winter Gardens we'll have a shirt dress made from a pair of Mutant Ninja Turtle curtains, a modern jumpsuit made from a table cloth and boiler suit, a pair of curtains turned into a Vivienne Westwood-style shift dress and a 1950s frock coat which has been appliqued.

"It has been wonderful to watch people learn about reusing and recycling because it is making something which is fun."

People visiting the Glasgow Show are invited to bring along unwanted jewellery, material, glass, cards and household rubbish such as egg boxes so instructors can teach them how to make the items into something new.

Anyone interested in Starter Packs Glasgow's classes at 25 Burleigh Street should call 0141 440 1008.