Dresd cutting flowers in the build up to the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange exhibition

The Commonwealth Fashion Exchange is an initiative for established and emerging fashion talent from across the Commonwealth’s 53 countries to showcase the power and potential of artisan fashion skills to deliver new networks, trade links and highlight sustainability.

Dresd designed and dressed the exhibition using recycled, and sustainable materials. They created over 40 up-cycled headdresses which were made using 6,000 pieces of reclaimed film-set paper. Each headdress was handmade, with over 4,000 flowers in total. Other materials used included recycled film-set staging from a BBC production, which were made into plinths to display each of the 31 looks. Approximately 118 tons of recyclable materials were recovered from this same production, these now form a part of our recycling and sustainability initiative.

The looks were displayed at Buckingham Palace and the Australian High Commission, London. Both exhibitions were curated by VOGUE's Editor-at-Large, Hamish Bowles.

The project was launched by Commonwealth Secretary General the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland and Livia Firth, founder of sustainability consultancy Eco-Age and supported by Swarovski, The Woolmark Company and MATCHESFASHION.COM.