This dress doesn’t cost the earth... (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

This dress doesn’t cost the earth...

8:10am Wednesday 2nd September 2009 in News By Sally Clifford

Budding beauty queen Suzanne Celensu is used to looking stylish.

So when the 24-year-old was given a brief to find an eco-frock to wear for the Miss Earth beauty contest, she knew what she wanted.

She took her inspiration and her ideas to dress designer Kirsty Spencer and together they came up with a stunning collaboration; a beautiful evening gown made purely from 100 coloured carrier bags.

The dress perfectly fitted the beauty pageant’s environmentally-friendly theme. “Suzanne wanted something recycled, so we started off with magazine pages. Then we thought this country is quite good at recycling paper, but carrier bags are a real issue just now, so we came up with a list of options between us,” recalls Kirsty, who graduated from Bradford College’s fashion design course last year.

As shops have become more conscious of handing out carriers to customers, and shoppers are being conditioned to use environmentally-friendly bags, Kirsty wondered where she could source the large number of carrier bags needed to create Suzanne’s dress.

She decided to set her mother-in-law on the task. “She sent an e-mail and we got 1,000 carrier bags back!” says Kirsty. “People were really interested because when you get a carrier bag now, you feel like you can’t throw it away, so people are stashing them and they don’t know what to do with them.”

It took Kirsty 12 hours to create the circular skirt alone. Everything for the gown, right down to the zip, was recycled. The fabric for the bodice and skirt came from recycled curtains, and Kirsty used an old duvet for the lining.

“The style is a one-shouldered floor-length gown with a big circular skirt. It has a fabric base and I cut all the carrier bags into strips,” she explains.

Kirsty created Suzanne’s matching hair clip from carrier bags too!

The 34-year-old set up her workshop shortly after graduating and is now selling her recycled clothing creations online and at craft fairs and markets.

Kirsty worked in the Job Centre before returning to the classroom to study fashion design. She has always loved sewing and creating her own clothes.

In April, she showcased her collections in the Alternative Fashion Week in London, an event organised through Alternative Art giving small independent designers the opportunity to launch their own businesses. Kirsty says studying sustainable design at university gave her the impetus and inspiration for creating recycled clothing. She sources her fabrics from charity shops, auctions and eBay.

She says students are her biggest client base, along with customers, like Suzanne, who want something quirky. “I’ve never made anything out of carrier bags before!” says Kirsty.

Suzanne’s dress, which she wore to the finals of the Miss Earth beauty contest in Leamington Spa recently is the most unusual creation Kirsty has made. Suzanne was delighted with the finished garment.

“It was really quite strong and Kirsty made it really well. It was a one-time wear, but if anything comes up like this I would definitely wear it again,” says Suzanne.

She didn’t win the contest, but she was the most popular contestant by public vote which entitles her to an automatic entry into next year’s Miss Earth finals.

Who knows, maybe she will carry on the family tradition. Suzanne’s grandma Betty is a former beauty queen, as is her mum Zoe, and Zoe’s twin sister Gay. In the Seventies, the Spink twins became the queens of beauty contests. Zoe was the first on the circuit and, having seen her sister’s success, Gay was keen to match it.

The siblings travelled the world, filming in exotic locations and rubbing shoulders with celebrities before retiring to concentrate on marriage and motherhood.

Suzanne is now carrying on the family tradition and her delighted grandma, mum and aunt were among the family members cheering her on at the recent final.