Aspiring fashion designers usually dream of seeing their designs gliding down a catwalk, but third-year Queensland University of Technology student Jo Turner is taking her ideas to struggling families in Romania instead.
With the support of QUT's School of Fashion, Jo held a stall at the South Bank Young Designers Market on Sunday 8 June, selling T-shirts that people can custom-design for underprivileged kids living in Brasov, Romania.
Jo and five other volunteers will take the shirts, along with medical supplies and basic goods such as toothbrushes and blankets, to Romania in July.
"We'll then be taking photographs of the kids wearing the donated T-shirts and displaying these in an exhibition to raise awareness on our return to Brisbane," she said.
The idea for the project came about through Jo's association with Hope for the Nations - Romania, a charity established in 2001 to assist at-risk children and families in that country.
The charity undertakes a range of tasks, including rebuilding farming communities, coordinating a roster of volunteers at the local hospital and searching for birth parents of Romanian children adopted after the revolution in 1989.
Jo said fashion design students aren't the most obvious pick for such projects because they lack the obvious practical skill set of, say, medical students.
"Hence I racked my brains thinking of ways I could use my skills in fashion, photography and other creative pursuits to make a contribution," she said.
In addition to taking photographs of children in Brasov wearing the donated T-shirts, Jo will be involved in a family portrait project.
"While we're over there, we'll constantly be taking photographs of the people and their surroundings," she said.
"Already 600 families have signed up to receive lasting memories of their kids or their families, which will be given to them at the end of the project."
Described by fashion professor Suzi Vaughan as a "very talented" student, Jo is still weighing her long-term career options.
"Ideally I'd like to be able to combine my creative and design skills with my humanitarian interests, but I'm still figuring out the best way to do this," she said.
