Recycled car parts - the latest trend?

by Taryn Davies | 5 December 2011

The stunning dress doesn't look anything like it's been made from car parts

We're always on the lookout for the latest trends in fashion. Who doesn't want to have the latest looks in their wardrobe, right now?!

Thanks to the gloomy financial crisis, recycling our old clothes might just be the ultimate fashion trend of 2011.

But, if you're sick of rummaging through your wardrobe, you may want to try this...

Scottish Designer of the Year nominee, Judy Clark has designed a dress made of used car parts.

The stunning dress was created as part of a challenge to creat a unique dress and necklace for Ford's centenary tour, a month-long event celebrating 100 years of Ford in Britain.

Judy Clark, from Edinburgh, worked under the late Alexander McQueen and assisted in the design of Sarah Jessica Parker's now famed green dress, which she donned for the premier of Sex and the City back in 2008.

"My reaction when they approached me was one of delight to be a part of such a unique project as it's very different to what I normally do," Judy says. "I would say that inspiration for the dress was taken from the Edwardian period and I actually started to design the dress before the car parts arrived."

The dress, which boasts a fusion of silk-dyed chiffon, red car lights, kilt buckles and Clark's trademark tweed work, is a fitting reference to the recycling trend set by her former mentor during Paris Fashion Week back in Fall, 2009.

Also taking part in the challenge by creating a necklace, was 26 year-old Katherine Hawkins from Cornwall who runs a jewellery design business called Creme Noveau. Describing the inspiratiuon behind the necklace as a tribute to Metropolis, the vintage science fiction robotics movie, Katherine said that she was rather daunted by the prospect when she was approached by Ford.

"When the box of car parts arrived, I didn't really know what to expect," Katherine explains. "It doesn't help that I can't actually drive so at first I didn't know what the parts were for! But once I got them spread out to see how they look and sit and how I could work with them, the idea came very quickly and I was able to use really cool metals, plastics and rubbery bits."

The shoot was handled by photographer, Andy Fallon, who has worked on a variet of shoots ranging from Rolling Stone Magazine to FHM.