PLASTICS from a Scottish beach will make it on to the catwalk in York Fashion Week thanks to local designer Kat Hick.

Kat will be launching Wild Waves, a unique eco collection of jewellery made from plastic washed up on Britain’s beaches, at the Ethical Fashion Show, as part of York Fashion Week next month.

Kat’s jewellery brand, Half the Ocean, is inspired by her lifelong love of the sea and she specialises in upcycling discarded materials and turning them into beautiful jewellery.

The Wild Waves collection came about when Kat saw videos on social media of her school friend Catriona Spink relentlessly clearing mountains of plastic from the beaches near her home on the Scottish island of Tiree.

Kat said: “I was shocked at the amount of plastics Catriona is removing from the beaches and became more aware of the threat this has on marine life. I also became aware of my own plastic usage and just how much many of us consume and throw away. I contacted Catriona to ask if I could use some of the plastics to make a jewellery range that would highlight the issue.”

Catriona, who met Kat at school in Easingwold in the 1980s, hopes to travel to see the show and model one of the pieces. She said: “I am so glad that Kat is helping to bring awareness to the plastic devastation of our coasts. Here on the Hebridean island of Tiree we have removed over 60 tonnes in the last ten months.

"Creating and showing Half the Ocean eco-jewellery at such a prestigious event can only help raise awareness of this important issue. Even if just some of our marine plastics are reused, this is just brilliant.”

In preparation for the fashion show, Kat has been unravelling metres of fishing rope, melting bottle tops and forming the plastics into interesting shapes. “I’m enjoying the challenge of turning beach trash into beautiful eco bling and hope the Wild Waves Collection will be beautifully intriguing, thought provoking and encourage people to make small changes to avoid plastic usage where they can.”

The Wild Waves Collection will be revealed at York Fashion Week’s Ethical Fashion Show at the Hotel du Vin, The Mount York, March 26, at 7pm. Tickets available at: https://www.yorkfashionweek.co.uk/events/york-ethical-fashion-show/.