Talented students have unleashed their creative skills by organising and designing their very own fashion shoots to promote the great vintage clothing available from PDSA charity stores.Twelve students from The School of Art, Bourneville, in Birmingham, produced their own campaigns - creating a stunning collection of images which delighted officials at the UK’s leading veterinary charity.
PDSA’s busy Aston Processing Centre welcomed the enthusiastic students, who worked with staff to select collections from a range of donated vintage stock.
The centre collects and distributes vintage stock, which is donated to a number of the charity’s 180 stores nationwide including well known brands from bygone years. PDSA has a number of stores with thriving vintage sections, but the key area for selling vintage goods is through online sites such as ASOS.
The art and design students volunteered to help PDSA by creating show stopping photographs to sell the garments online. Inspired by the uniqueness of the vintage stock, the students were tasked with recruiting models and styling them, as well as and choosing amazing locations to capture the images. The students had their pick of the rails of gorgeous garments to photograph in suitably luxurious locations, which included Netherstowe House, a Grade II listed boutique hotel in Staffordshire, and Canon Hill Park in Birmingham.
With graduate unemployment still high, experience with a professional organisation could make the difference as these students enter the job market. In return for their hard work for PDSA, the students have the photographs for their portfolio and the experience of working to a design brief for a large national charity.
Kit Lendon, Volunteering Development Manager for PDSA, said “The students really embraced the project. They were excited about the fantastic vintage items that are donated to us and they had lots of great ideas on how to showcase the stock to ensure if appealed to customers online. It’s a win-win situation: PDSA gets some incredible images to help us reach a premium price for our vintage stock to support our work of caring for sick and injured pets while the students get valuable work experience and something to show future employers.”
Hannah Najjar, a student at the college, said that the project had been a great experience and had allowed them to demonstrate their creative skills. She said: “I heard that PDSA was looking for students to get involved with a campaign and I was really keen to do so.
“We visited the charity’s processing centre and picked the garments we wanted to use for our fashion shoots and we were given a deadline to produce the images. It was good because it felt like a professional assignment and we don’t get many opportunities to do things like this.”Fellow student Megan Morrall added; “I joined the project because I loved the thought of playing a part in launching the PDSA's Vintage Clothing range as well as seeing it as a fantastic opportunity to showcase my photography skills. I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the project and feel that by being involved, I have not only built up my own confidence in my work but I have a new appreciation for the work which goes into generating public interest for charities such as PDSA.”
The images produced by the students are now being used by PDSA on its ASOS page to sell its vintage stock to help raise vital funds for the charity. To view the collection, please visit: https://marketplace.asos.com/seller/pdsa/collection#pgsz=200&pgno=1&pmin=10&pmax=45
PDSA is the UK’s leading veterinary charity, providing free veterinary care for the sick and injured pets of people in need and promoting responsible pet ownership. For further information about PDSA please visit www.pdsa.org.uk or call 0800 731 2502.
For media enquiries, please contact Russell Roberts in the Press Office on 01952 204 775, email roberts.russell@pdsa.org.uk, or visit www.pdsa.org.uk/mediacentre
