London Calling! 10 winning designs announced for Junk Kouture World Final
London Calling!
10 winning designs announced for Junk Kouture World Final in London 12th October 2023
Watch all the action from 3Arena on RTÉ 2 and RTÉ Player on 18th May at 7pm
An Post unveil booklet of Junk Kouture stamps
While all eyes were on the Met Gala earlier in the week, last night Thursday 4th May was the turn of 80 up-and-coming eco-conscious creators and fashion designers at the Junk Kouture Dublin City Final Powered by RTÉ in 3Arena, Dublin. Ten haute-couture designs made from 100% recycled materials were chosen by Louis Wash, Keilidh Cashell, Tara Kumar and Stephen McLaughlin to compete at the 2023 Junk Kouture World Final in Ovo Arena Wembley in London on 12th October.
Technical judge and Programme Director for Fashion Design at Griffith College Jane Leavey has worked behind the scenes this year to help the judging panel select nine worthy designs, while RTÉ Lifestyle Editor Sinann Fetherston was RTÉ’s representative at the final helping the judges award the RTÉ World Finalist title, making up the 10 winning designs. The designs will battle it out against 50 other teams from Abu Dhabi, London, Paris, Milan and New York in London to become the World Designer of the Year!
Without further ado, and in no particular order, the 10 winners were:
- ‘Invidia’ modelled by Ailish Doherty of Carndonagh Community School, Carndonagh, Co. Donegal, made from shoe boxes and a shower curtain. Designers are Ailish Doherty, Julia Grant and Ciara Gilmore.
- ‘Drowning Duchess’ modelled and designed by Eabha Byrnes of St. Anne’s Secondary School, Tipperary made from pool floats and inflatables.
- ‘STEMinist’ designed by Vanessa Kielty, Martha Nugent and Mary McNulty of Elphin Community College, Elphin, Co. Roscommon, created to encourage more girls to become involved in STEM subjects. Made from old electrical wiring and a copper water cylinder, nuts and bolts, rusted corrugated iron, high-vis jacket, disused landscape netting, tool mats, gears and plastic.
- ‘Fallen Angel’ by Alexa Alexandrina of St. Kevin’s Community College, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin. Made from old sheets, foil and playing cards.
- ‘Le Nouveau Riche’ by Theo Connolly of Dundalk Grammar School, Louth, made using waste from vaccine centres.
- ‘Tonnes of Tradition’ by Aisha Khan, Khadija Bibi and Harjass Kau of Coláiste Nano Nagle, Limerick, made from tonne bags, wool, up-cycled curtains, curtain rings, wires, keys and bed sheets.
- ‘The Muse’ by Asia O’Riordan and Erris Lindsay from Blessington Community College. Made of beads, bingo cards, wool, sticks of willow, old denim, fabrics and paint.
- ‘Ragnor Rí’ designed by Leah Higgins and modelled by Joshua Whelan of Clarin College, Athenry, Co. Galway, made from recycled faux furs and leather offcuts, car timing belts, broken studs and buckles from a local shoemaker embellish the design. The design is adapted to meet the mobility and wearability needs of a wheelchair user.
- ‘#TagME’ designed by Eva Donlon, Evie Nugent and Méabh O’Shea of Moate Community School, Westmeath. Made from plastic colour samples for various plastic objects – they’ve used over 2,500 tags, handsewn together. These samples usually end up in landfill because the different colours make them difficult to recycle.
- RTÉ Finalist ‘The Eye of the Beholder’ modelled by Lauren Egan of Ursuline Secondary School, Templemore Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary made from discarded tents, garden hose and an old builder’s helmet. Designers are Zoe Whelan, Lauren Egan and Shauna Walsh.
While the judges deliberated, RTÉ 2FM Rising artist Ryan Mack performed three tracks “Only Human”, “Overwhelmed”, “Forever & Ever & Always”. If you weren’t there on the night, you can catch all the action of the Junk Kouture Dublin City Final Powered by RTÉ on 18th May at 7pm on RTÉ 2 and the RTÉ Player as young filmmaker Seán Treacy, director, presenter and content creator Órla Morris Toolen and RTÉ Jr presenter Mary Claire Fitzpatrick bring you all the highlights and backstage action from the final.
Keilidh Cashell said: “We were blown away by the talent so it was a very tough task to choose just 10 designs from 80 incredible creations! Everything from train tickets to burst footballs were transformed into something new – I couldn’t believe my eyes at times! I am glad it wasn’t just down to me otherwise there’d be more than ten designs heading to the World Final! London, get ready – there are some really quirky and cool designs headed your way!”
Louis Walsh said: “I’ve been judging Junk Kouture a long time and I can say it never gets any easier to choose the winners – but I think we’ve got this decision right! It was important we picked designs who really rocked the stage of 3Arena as the World Final is the biggest event in the Junk Kouture calendar – you’ve got to bring it to a new level! Best of luck to our top ten in London!”
Group Head of Children’s and Young People’s Programming RTÉ Suzanne Kelly said: “The standard of sustainable designs and the creativity on show from students right across Ireland just seems to go from strength to strength as tonight’s winning designs have powerfully demonstrated. We are delighted to be part of this unique and wonderful celebration of creativity from our young people and to share it, along with exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, to audiences on RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and the RTÉ Kids Insta. The issues of sustainability and climate consciousness are so important to young people, and we are more than happy to use our platforms to keep these issues front and centre.”
The 10 Junk Kouture World Finalists were not the only thing revealed in 3Arena on Thursday night! An Post unveiled a booklet of four Junk Kouture stamps at the Dublin City Final, featuring past designers and the iconic high-fashion looks they created from upcycled junk. These striking stamps, which allow postage within Ireland are available for €5.40 at anpost.com/junkkouture and in selected post offices nationwide, with a limited student online offer of five free postcards.
The stamps showcase to the Irish public Junk Kouture’s valuable learnings for students around the importance of sustainable living and are a great way to stay in touch with friends and family this summer. Former Junk Kouture winner Alicia Rostermundt was among those who had her design Iconoclastic Fantastic immortalised on the An Post stamps. She won in 2021, when she was a student at Coláiste Bríde, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. After her experience at Junk Kouture Alicia applied for a voluntary year in the costume department in theatre.
CEO of Junk Kouture Troy Armour said: “We are so honoured to be featured in this booklet of stamps with An Post. You can now own a little piece of haut couture fashion for the price of a stamp! The designs on the stamps are all by students who have gone on to make their mark in different industries, from the fashion world to environmental work – a journey that starts with Junk Kouture. I used to collect stamps as a child, never did I envision having our very own Junk Kouture booklet of stamps.”
Aileen Mooney of An Post added: “An Post is delighted to include Junk Kouture within the annual stamp programme. Junk Kouture is a world-wide initiative providing a fun and skills-based focus for students to apply sustainable living principles now and for generations to come. We salute how resourceful and creative the students’ designs are and this is captured by our gorgeous ‘Kouture’ stamps.”