From garden to garment: Students grow plants to use in sustainable fashion

The University of Portsmouth has partnered with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to deliver a planting project, capable of sustaining a small ecosystem while also naturally providing dye colour for fashion students to use in their work.

Over 100 students from the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) and the Faculty of Business and Law (BAL) who are studying undergraduate marketing courses, joined staff and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust representatives on Tuesday (28 April), to install two gardens on campus - designed by students, and supported and funded by Estates and Campus Services.

One garden, situated in Ravelin Park near the entrance, will be used for graduation. The other is in the Eldon Building courtyard, where fashion students will be able to obtain colour from the roots, leaves or flowers to create natural dyes.

The plants in Ravelin have been carefully selected for their diversity and adaptability to provide living spaces for wildlife and attract pollinators. Lavenders, verbenas and Michaelmas daisies offer a long season of nectar for bees, butterflies and other pollinators, while dense planting and deadwood areas provide shelter and habitat for insects and small creatures.

There will also be a herb garden area which features plants like rosemary and thyme, whose flowers are rich food sources for pollinating insects. Shallow water saucers have also been included to support wildlife throughout the seasons, particularly essential for wildlife in warmer weather.

At Eldon Building, the black hollyhock and hibiscus provide food for small birds, attract pollinators and offer an environmentally friendly alternative to harmful synthetic dyes.

Victoria Jowett, Senior Teaching Fellow from the School of Architecture, Art and Design at the University of Portsmouth, has come to this project as both an academic and a PhD student, using this for her own research while promoting sustainable textile colour sourcing. She said: “The dye garden reimagines the campus as a living learning space, where plants are not only cultivated for biodiversity but also become the source of colour and creativity.

“By growing and harvesting their own materials, students not only build technical skills but also gain a deeper appreciation for sustainable and regenerative design practices, repositioning textile and fashion design to prioritise the natural environment.”

From a fashion  perspective, the project reconnects students with the origins of colour. Working with plants grown directly outside the fashion studio, they explore how colour is cultivated, harvested, and transformed into natural dyes, before being applied to textiles through environmentally conscious processes.

QR codes will be installed within the gardens to enable members of the public to learn more about how the plants are used and processed into vibrant dyes. The codes also showcase examples of student work made from natural dyes and give a behind the scenes look at the complexities of creating clothes.

Dr Liz Ford, Senior Lecturer from the School of Strategy, Marketing and Innovation at the University of Portsmouth said: “We are really proud of the students. They have worked hard on their proposals, and it is great to see their ideas come to life across the campus.

“By working across disciplines on a live, real-world brief, students gain practical experience, confidence, and a strong sense of how their work can create meaningful environmental and social impact.”

Craig Whitelock, Wilder School and Youth Team Leader from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, said: “Dr Liz Ford has been developing how her students can be actively engaged with sustainability and biodiversity on campus over the last four years. This project demonstrates how embedding an environmental topic into a different academic discipline can allow students to connect with nature.

“The project is part of Team Wilder, where students and staff are taking action for nature, engaging one in four people in the hope of creating a tipping point for wider societal change. We are so proud of the changes made over the years on campus and the transformations of spaces for biodiversity, students and staff.”

Students who submitted the winning business proposals to Kevin Poulter in Estates and Campus Services were awarded funding and a certificate to commemorate the ingenuity and thought that went into their designs, now situated in both gardens with support from the logistics team.

The plants will bloom in time for graduation 2026, giving both Ravelin Park and Eldon Building’s courtyard a vibrant boost of colour and a natural garden for wildlife to call home.