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Colaiste Nano Nagle Junk Kouture 2021 entries are four outfits made by students of entirely sustainable material. Colaiste Nano Nagle Junk Kouture 2021 entries are four outfits made by students of entirely sustainable material.

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Colaiste Nano Nagle Junk Kouture 2021 entries are set to wow judges

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Colaiste Nano Nagle Junk Kouture 2021 entries are four outfits made by students of entirely sustainable material.

Colaiste Nano Nagle Junk Kouture 2021 entries are set to wow judges

By I Love Limerick Correspondent Tara Byrne

Students at Cólaiste Nano Nagle in Limerick City have once again put out four incredible designs for this year’s Junk Kouture made entirely out of sustainable material.


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Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture is a national competition for secondary school students which takes elements such as fashion, design, engineering and environmental sustainability and transforms them into a creative contest like no other. Over the last few years, Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture has already captivated over 24,000 students, 7,000 teachers and 100,000 audience members. Inspiring young designers in second level education to use everyday junk materials to create striking works of wearable art, the competition calls on all budding fashionistas to see if they have what it takes to be crowned King or Queen of the upcycled catwalk.

The students of Limerick’s Coláiste Nano Nagle are a fantastic example of these inspiring young designers. Sarah Nestor, an art teacher at the school, said, “Coláiste Nano Nagle has been entering this competition since its inception. Over the past decade, the competition has played an important part in our Senior Cycle art, Transition Year and Green Schools programmes. The competition offers the students of Coláiste Nano Nagle a platform to showcase their creative abilities. Each year, our school eagerly awaits the designs’ revelation, which instils a great sense of pride and community amongst the student body. Our school is especially proud of this year’s group because, despite school closures, they persevered through lockdown and managed to create four amazing designs.”

She added, “It is great to see our Transition Year students cheer on their teams for their creative endeavours. The competition celebrates the brave young artists who take chances, experiments and pushes the boundaries to create a high fashion look that highlights eco-awareness.”

Emilia Szablia, Kaja Bozi and Katie O’Connell of the team “I’ll say I do” created a wedding dress from underlay, paper coasters, old curtains and styrofoam. It consists of four pieces, an inner and an outer skirt, a corset and a dramatic shoulder piece. It is dedicated to all the brides who had their wedding plans put on hold because of COVID-19. The paper coasters were kindly donated to the school by Dromoland Castle.

Iva Lucic, Sarah Madden and Chantel Melqueen, who created “You’ve made your bed”, challenged themselves to use only one waste material, bedlinen. Bedlinen contributes to millions of tonnes of waste being dumped into landfills every year when it could be repurposed into something beautiful like this team’s entry. This team used many fabric manipulation techniques to create this striking look.

Georgie Barry, Allie Griffen and Leona Purcell spent six months completing the outfit “The New Different” used builders mesh, lampshades and old jewellery and eye contact packaging to create this industrial look. The team wanted to create an industrial look to the outfit while also keeping it futuristic. The inspiration for this outfit is steampunk, contemporary fashion and androgyny. It consists of an embroidered pants, a dramatic roused shirt and an otherworldly shoulder piece.

Brenda Lim, Brianna Sheehan and Molly Jackson of team “Ephemeral Bloom” created a beautifully crafted Asian inspired look using napkins, builders mesh and copper wire. The look has a fantasy feel to it. The outfit is made up of a kimono, flared trousers and a dramatic mask.

Junk Kouture will once again be joining forces with RTÉ for 2021, helping to keep issues such as sustainability and climate action front of mind for RTÉ’s younger audiences. Junk Kouture will also continue to be supported by the Creative Ireland Programme, an exciting initiative by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, which aims to support and develop engagement with and in arts, culture and creativity by individuals and communities, thereby enriching individual and community well-being, as well as promoting Ireland’s arts and culture globally. This will help Junk Kouture continue developing its educational resources for students, teachers and schools.

Louis Walsh, who has been a judge for seven years, will be returning to Junk Kouture, while Michelle Visage. a judge on Ru Paul’s Dragrace, also brings her keen eye for style and performance to proceedings for a second year. Roz Purcell, Louis, and Michelle will be joined by Stephen McLaughlin, a Junk Kouture alumni success story, former winner and fashion designer. Meanwhile, Dr Tracey Fahey, the Head of Department in Fine Art at LSAD and Jane Leavey, Programme Director for Fashion Design at Griffith College, became key members of the technical judging panel this year. Keeping the whole show on the road will be Laura Fox and Emma Power, Junk Kouture hosts and RTÉ 2FM presenters.

Roz Purcell, who will be on the judging panel at this year’s Junk Kouture, said, “I am delighted to be joining the Junk Kouture judging panel for 2021. Junk Kouture has an important message for us all to protect the planet we call home and strive for a greener future. It’s a fantastic opportunity for all young people to get involved and use their imagination, be innovative and creative while sharing that vital message. Every year I am blown away by the talent that appears in Junk Kouture, the attention to detail given to these designs is incredible, and I know we will have our work cut out for us to pick a winner. Last year’s winners won wearing a dress made from smashed up jam jars and sea glass, so I am really excited to see what the students have come up with this year!”

Best of luck to Coláiste Nano Nagle in this year’s Junk Kouture competition.

 

For more stories about Junk Kouture go HERE

For more information about Junk Kouture go HERE 

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.