Do fashion a favour: Get customizing with Miquita Oliver and Ben de Lisi

Customizing old clothes and giving them a new lease of life is officially the hottest thing in fashion right now. Top fashion designer Ben de Lisi and T4 presenter Miquita Oliver have teamed up with vinspired.com to join the trend by launching Fashion Favours, a unique collection of reworked fashion items, customised by volunteers from around the UK.

Part of the Favours campaign, which aims to transform negative conceptions of volunteering, Fashion Favours is a unique opportunity for everyone to get creative and help to put an end to the reality of shortlived and throwaway fashion.

Fashionistas and budding fashion designers can get involved by downloading Ben de Lisi’s exclusive fashion tips kit to help them revive old garments, and those aged between 16-25 can sign up for one of the customization workshops being held across England, on November 8&9 or 15&16, with leading eco fashion groups such as designers Kesh and Junky Styling, plus Traid and the Ethical Fashion Forum.

Sign up quick, midday Tuesday October 28 is the deadline. And if you’re…ahem…not quite in that age bracket anymore (take note greenmystyle.com editor!), sign up your little sister and those girls in the office that look like they could be your daughters!

Gordon Brown and wife Sarah, plus celebrities such as Fearn Cotton and Alex Zane, as well as Ben and Miquita of course, have already donated clothes to the customization workshops. The best designs will be showcased at an exclusive fashion event. All clothes, which will form the world’s biggest ‘virtual wardrobe’ online at vinspired.com, will eventually be auctioned off to raise money for HIV charity Body & Soul.

As Miquita says: “Fashion Favours is a great chance for people to work with some of the best people in the fashion business, either learning from them at the workshops or on online at vinspired.com – all while doing a favour. I can’t wait to see the outfits that the volunteers create.”

Ben De Lisi adds: “It’s shocking how many clothes we throw away each year. The Fashion Favours collection represents the difference doing a small favour can make in collectively benefiting society. I’m excited to be working with volunteers to pass on my skills so they can help reverse some the bad ‘fast fashion’ habits we’ve all adopted.”

Download your Ben de Lisi fashion pack and sign up for a workshop at www.vinspired.com