Junk Kouture in association with the European Recycling Platform (ERP) is a national competition for second level students in Ireland and Northern Ireland which challenges teenagers to create high-end wearable fashion from everyday junk that would normally find its way into the bin. Junk Kouture aims to inspire and ignite passion in these teenagers while at the same time subtly educating them about the importance of recycling and reusing waste for the good of the planet. In the last two years, Junk Kouture has established itself as the premier fashion  competition for teenagers throughout Ireland.

A maximum of three students can work on each outfit and the outfit must be made from reworked trash or other used materials that are beyond their intended purpose.

The next step involves the judges whittling the entrants down to just 80 outfits per region – north, south, east and west. These chosen outfits are the semi-finalists and subsequently the students must choreograph a performance to showcase their outfit on the catwalk in one of four regional theatres. They have 90 seconds to impress on the catwalk and if successful the 20 highest scoring outfits progress to the grand final.

Coláiste Naomh Eoin is no stranger to this contest and have produced and array of magnificent inspiring outfits made from recycled material. Under the direction of our Art teacher Cathríona Ní Lionsigh, last years students worked fervently resulting in all entires being accepted for entry to the regional finals in Castlebar. The competition for a place in the Grand Final is fierce and it was no surprise when one of the schools outfits was chosen to represent us. Sisters, Hannah & Nóra Casey designed and created the winning entry which was an awe inspiring dress made out of seaweed gathered along the shore on Inis Meáin.

The final was held in the new state-of-the-art Bord Gáis Enery Theatre on the 19th of April 2013 and the entire school travelled to the competition to lend their very loud support! The event was amazing and the dress modelled by Nóra was a close contender on the day. Though we didn’t see silver, our spirits were not dampened and we celebrated our proud achievement against contenders from large schools with greater resources. Being pipped at the post has only made our fashion designers more determined and it will be interesting to see what creations the Casey sisters and their other artistic counterparts from Coláiste Naomh Eoin come up with for 2014!