UBC Community Safety Uniform Design Challenge!

Help shape the future of UBC Community Safety!

As UBC Campus Security prepares to transition into UBC Community Safety in early 2026, the department is refreshing its visual identity to better reflect who they are today: caring, approachable, proactive, adaptable, and dedicated to supporting a safe and secure campus for our diverse and evolving community.

As part of this transformation, UBC’s Slow Fashion Research Cluster, in partnership with UBC Community Safety, is inviting UBC students, staff, and faculty to help imagine the next generation of UBC Community Safety uniforms through a campus-wide Uniform Design Challenge!

Re-imagine the design of the clothes that Community Safety staff wear on-duty, and you could see your vision come to life as part of UBC’s Slow Fashion Season 2026! Submit a drawing or notes about your concept by December 9.

Uniform Design Challenge: How to enter

Concept

Submit a drawing and/or written concept for one or both of the following uniform sets.

  1. Standard Security Officer Uniform: Worn by personnel who provide 24/7 incident response and conduct vehicle, bike, and foot patrols
    • Design must include: Duty belt, radio, waterproof outer layer with a high-visibility element, clearly labelled “Security”
    • Desired look: Professional, approachable, versatile, clearly identifiable, accessible, and reflective of a new, people-first approach to safety. Suggested items: shirt, inner jacket, outer jacket
  2. Other Community Safety Staff Uniform: For teams providing first aid, engagement, dispatch, locksmithing, and technical services
    • Desired look: Accessible, friendly, distinct from security, versatile, more casual, designed primarily for indoor work. Suggested items; Shirt, sweater, light jacket

Colours and design style

Use these colours and consider including the graphic “swoop” to align with the Community Safety visual identity.

All uniform sets should include some element of the department’s “Safety Pink” accent colour (specs: PMS 250 C; #E4B9EE; R228 G185 B238; C10 M30 Y0 K0).

Important note: Submitted designs will provide community input but will not be used for the final uniforms. Community Safety will work with their contracted designer for the actual production that will need to integrate operational, regulatory, and safety requirements per UBC Community Safety policy.

Submissions

  • Complete the submission form We’ll ask for your UBC email address to ensure a community submission process. Include:
    • A single drawing saved as a digital image (eg. .JPG, .PNG)
    • A short description of your concept, with optional notes on sustainability of materials

Timeline

  • Submission deadline: December 9, 2025
  • Jury deliberation & announcements: Early January 2026
  • Prototype construction period: Early 2026
  • Potential public showcase: Slow Fashion Season events (February–March 2026)

Winners

A jury of Slow Fashion Cluster design experts, a UBC student, and a Community Safety representative will select:

  • Up to twelve concepts to publish on web and social media (honorarium: $50 each)
  • Up to three designs (honorarium: $150 each) to be further developed into unique prototype garments by student clothing-makers

These prototypes may be showcased during the Slow Fashion Season 2026 exhibitions and fashion events in February–March 2026.

Questions? Contact:

The Slow Fashion: Circular Textiles, Sustainable Fibre Research Cluster is an interdisciplinary group of researchers in the arts, humanities, and applied sciences at UBC and beyond, who are working on the complex questions of sustainability in fashion and clothing. Their annual Slow Fashion Season public events hope to encourage real world change by presenting inspiring alternatives to unsustainable fast fashion and unethical textile production practices. Follow the cluster for information about all the Slow Fashion Season 2026 exhibitions, workshops, challenges, and the live Slow Fashion Show in early 2026.