Fashion designer, artist and dancer Tobi Balogun with lead young people in a workshop customising tired old clothes to create exciting new looks!

In this sustainable workshop we will explore ways of transforming the old into the new. Taking old fabrics and ‘waste’, turning them into wearable art. The workshop will be divided into 3 parts each an hour long.

To start, we will explore different materials commonly found around the home, colours, and approaches to reworking clothes. From cutting to painting to gluing. Simple things like cropping a top or making shorts from old bottoms.

In the second part, we will explore scrap fabric collages and making appliqué shapes that can be added onto garments or canvas. Making fashion fun and creating our own piece of wearable art.
For the 3rd and final section we will be learning how to make a basic tote bag shape with our appliqué patches. We will aim to get an understanding of how to go from a flat 2D sketch to a 3D shape.
No previous sewing experience needed. This workshop will be playful, and easy to follow along.

Oluwatobi is a Nigerian-Irish multi-disciplinary artist whose work spans visual art, design, dance, and spoken word. With roots in Carlow and a background in science, fashion, and hip-hop, Oluwatobi masterfully weaves together analytical precision and creative expression to explore the complexities of identity, history, and community. Drawing on the rich traditions of Yoruba culture, Afrofuturism and his irish upbringing, Oluwatobi's art seeks to reimagine cultural narratives and craft new global perspectives delving into cultural history through surreal, layered compositions that empower storytelling and challenge conventional perspectives. Oluwatobi's work is rooted in honoring African and Irish craftsmanship while transforming heritage into contemporary expressions. By centering clothing, accessories, and other mediums as vessels of cultural dialogue, he bridges the past with the future, encouraging audiences to question what is and imagine what could be. Through his boundary-pushing creative process, Oluwatobi captures the essence of modern culture and the African Irish journey, offering bold, transformative visions grounded in tradition and illuminated by the possibilities of tomorrow.

Ages: 15 – 24 years

https://www.tobi-tobe.com/

The Sustainable Futures Summer School is kindly funded by Creative Ireland.