THE high glamour of 1930s fashion transformed a Burnley park into a stroll down memory lane.

Fashion and performing arts students at Burnley College were bedecked in art deco creations with day dresses, nifty cloche hats and decadent evening wear the order of the day. The fashion show in Thompson Park was a nod to when the green space was created, complete with boating lake, Italian gardens and play areas.

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The event entitled Our Park, Our Town, Our Time was also used as a platform for the fashion students to display their new designs at a free catwalk show. All of the garments were handmade by Burnley College’s advanced BTEC art and fashion students working in partnership with Burnley Leisure Trust.

The £20,000 project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, was organised by the 20 students involved to help them achieve their bronze and silver Arts Awards. More than 40 people attended, despite the bad weather.

Val Crabbe, head of creative industries and computing at Burnley College Sixth Form Centre, said: “Our show at Thompson Park was the perfect opportunity for our students to show off the outstanding work they’ve created over the past year inspired by the heritage and history of Burnley and traditional methods of crafting high-fashion pieces.

"Despite the rain, their creativity and talents shone and the bespoke vintage fashion on show was of a very high standard. It was a fun way to celebrate our students’ and tutors’ achievements and the support we were given by the Heritage Lottery Fund Young Roots scheme was fantastic.”

Student Gabrielle Kayley, 16, said: “It was really interesting working on this project and we’re excited to showcase the work we’ve been doing. The work we’ve created has been such a high standard thanks to all the support we’ve had from our tutors at every step and I’m so proud of the finished pieces I made.”

Matt Robinson, of Burnley Leisure Trust, agreed that the first fashion show to be held in the park was a huge success. “We had a really good audience, The gazebo was full, it was absolutely bucketing it down,” he said. “There wasn’t an empty seat.”