A Hythe student is turning abandoned festival tents into wearable fashion.
Tilly Lawless, a product design student at the University of Brighton, has launched a sustainable clothing project that transforms discarded tents into garments.
Her project, called Bâche, was born out of disappointment at the amount of waste left behind after festivals.
Ms Lawless said: "I love festivals. There's so much culture, creativity and community around them.
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"But it’s really disappointing to see how much waste is left behind afterwards, with entire fields covered in abandoned tents and equipment.
"Where many people saw rubbish destined for landfill, I saw a material with potential.
"Bâche is about changing how we value materials that are usually discarded and proving that sustainability and desirability can coexist.
"Rather than treating festival waste as an endpoint, I want to reposition it as a valuable resource.
"Design has an important role to play in tackling environmental challenges and helping people see waste differently."
An estimated 250,000 tents are left behind at UK music festivals each year, generating around 900 tonnes of waste.
Ms Lawless’ project forms part of the University of Brighton's Architecture and Design Graduate Show, which runs from June 12 to June 14 at the university’s Moulsecoomb campus.
The event is free and open to the public.
James Tooze, course leader for product design at the University of Brighton, said: "Tilly's project is a fantastic example of the kind of innovative and socially conscious design thinking we encourage at Brighton.
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"She has taken a highly visible environmental problem and transformed it into a creative, practical and commercially viable response that challenges assumptions about waste, value, and consumption.
"It is exactly the kind of forward-thinking work that the future of the design industry needs."
The graduate show will feature work from students across multiple disciplines, including architecture, design engineering and sustainable design.
A temporary pavilion, constructed in the south quad of the Cockcroft Building, will connect exhibition spaces and encourage interaction among visitors.
The exhibition will explore themes such as climate change, resource use, and community-led design.
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