Welsh comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean has teamed up with first-year fashion students at the University of South Wales (USW) to transform second-hand clothing from Oxfam shops into new looks, as part of Oxfam's "Second Hand September" anti-fast-fashion campaign.

Key Points

  • Participants are first-year students in Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing at the University of South Wales, tasked with creating new looks from old clothes donated to local Oxfam shops.
  • Students worked in groups, completing pieces through alteration and material reuse; "Team DisDressed" was made up of three fashion design students and two fashion marketing students.
  • Oxfam has run "Second Hand September" since 2019, encouraging people to buy second-hand clothes and donate unused ones; the charity notes that on average, one-third of the clothes in people's wardrobes have never been worn.

According to the university, the challenge combines classroom learning with circular fashion practice. One of the participating students, Gio Hanratty-Russell, said there was an abundance of clothing to choose from, and that the team enjoyed injecting their personal style into the looks, adding that charity shops always have pieces no one else owns. Another member, Emily Lawrence, noted that creators need to think about what a garment "could become" rather than what it "is now," and that the project's wealth of unique old clothes and materials gave them room to reinvent.

Kiri Pritchard-McLean has been buying second-hand clothes since her teenage years, and says most of the garments in her wardrobe — including the costumes she performs in — come from charity shops. She believes second-hand clothing is cheaper and pushes people to style what they already own more creatively; citing the fact that "there are enough clothes on the planet to dress the next six generations," she argued there is no need to keep producing more new clothes. Reviewing the students' work, she noted that the mix of different materials — tulle, wool, denim and tweed — formed a complete and carefully conceived collection.

Gwern Gwynfil, Media and Communications Officer at Oxfam Cymru, said fashion is a hugely glamorous industry but also one of the most polluting in the world, with the production and transport of clothing consuming vast amounts of water and causing pollution. He advised people to start by clearing out their wardrobes, donating unused clothes to their local Oxfam shop, and then picking a "new" second-hand item from a charity shop that they will genuinely wear.

Launched by Oxfam in 2019, "Second Hand September" aims to promote the buying of second-hand clothes and the donation of unused ones. The campaign has brought the anti-fast-fashion message into schools and the public eye, and has drawn more attention to charity retail and second-hand circulation channels.

Source: Welsh comedian teams up with fashion students for second-hand clothing challenge · Originally published 2026-09-27