A University of Salford student has targeted a career in sustainable fashion after he starred in a new Amazon Prime series made in partnership with second-hand fashion marketplace Vinted.
Alejandro Codes, 28, stars in the new show RE/style, which is available on the streaming platform now.
Hosted by presenter and former model Emma Willis, RE/style sees Codes go head-to-head with seven other talented fashion designers to create new looks each week, exclusively using second hand items.
The MA Fashion Design student filmed the six-episode series over a jam-packed two weeks in May in London while he was still completing his undergraduate studies.
Codes made a sterling impression on the show as he was declared the winner in the first week for his leather and tulle dress with hand-sewn red embellishments. He continued to show his design talents over the remaining weeks and assisted the overall winner Chiara in the final episode with her garments that were laten shown at Oxfam’s London Fashion Week show.
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The experience has inspired Codes to pursue the sustainable fashion route when he completes his master’s next year.
He said: “The whole experience has really changed me as a designer. It’s made me realise that there is so much fashion already out there and as a designer, there are so many little things you can do with your work to not waste fabric and put it to better use.
“I’m now really passionate about creating things from second-hand garments and using new technology and solutions to develop sustainable fashion. I love experimenting with new materials and trying to avoid creating fashion for the sake of fashion.”
Each episode saw the designers tasked with designing and finishing their creation within six hours which proved to be very challenging as they were not aware of the materials they could use until the task began.
Codes added: “The time frame definitely made it difficult as some of the aspects of designing, particularly sewing, were quite time consuming – I remember breaking six needles on one garment.”
He admitted to being a bit star-struck by the series host, Emma Willis, who he called “so nice and such a beautiful person.”
Willis was just one of many celebrities that feature in the show, including celebrated stylists Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe and Zadrian Smith, fashion designer Henry Holland and broadcasters Stacey Dooley, Clara Amfo and Laura Whitmore.
“I absolutely loved the whole experience,” Codes said. “All of the designers were taken care of despite the long filming hours. But the group we had was very special and we are all having so much fun as we were doing the things we loved – sewing and making garments.
“It’s created a little fashion family for me within the fashion industry and we check in on each other from time to time and really celebrate each other and our victories.”
RE/style is available to watch now on Prime Video.
