The results of this research project based on real and recycled materials - the result of the collaboration agreement signed between the Manolo Blahnik Art School and Isonorte in collaboration with Isla Bonita Moda, through Sodepal - will be shown on a fashion catwalk on Thursday 21st March at 19:30h in Santa Cruz de La Palma.

The collection 'Retales' -created by the students of Costume Modelling and Jewellery of the Manolo Blahnik School of Art- has as its main objective to raise awareness and visibility around the problem of pollution derived from the processes of textile industrialisation, while promoting the reuse of materials and waste by creating new products under a revised view that values sustainability as a starting point. We must not forget that the textile industry - driven by the accelerated and excessive consumption of fashion - is the second most polluting industry in the world after the oil industry.

This project, which has been made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Isonorte Foundation and Isla Bonita Moda through Sodepal, highlights the importance of promoting academic research processes on the reuse of textile waste and is materialised in this action that gives continuity to the agreement signed in 2022 between the Isonorte Foundation and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in which different international educational centres have collaborated.

With the Manolo Blahnik School of Art at the forefront of this creative project, in addition to the CFGS in Costume Modelling of the School of Art, 'Retales' has also had the participation of students from the training cycles of Artistic Jewellery Processes, Photography, Advertising Graphics, Audiovisual Graphics, Illustration, as well as the baccalaureate in Plastic Arts and Music and Performing Arts.

The results of this research project based on real and reused materials will be unveiled during a fashion show on Thursday 21 March at 19:30h in the Plaza de España in Santa Cruz de La Palma, as well as during the next edition of La Palma Fashion Week, organised by Isla Bonita Moda.

The CEO of Sodepal, Miriam Perestelo, highlights the work and dedication that "all the participants in this interesting project have put in from minute one, which invites us to be more sustainable and respectful of the environment as far as the use of textiles is concerned".

Exhibition of the 'Remnants' project

In addition to the presentation of the collection on the catwalk, the Casa Salazar in Santa Cruz de La Palma will host from 5 to 20 April the exhibition of the 'Retales' project, an exhibition in which visitors can not only enjoy all the creations made by the students, but also the theoretical process developed from the textile waste and the problems derived from it.

It should be noted that the project will also have two more exhibition venues to showcase the results of the rest of the projects developed by the different participating institutions, which will soon be held at the CAAM in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, as well as an exhibition in New Zealand.