Catwalk fashion with Junk Kouture: Longford gets stylish with this year's entries

Cnoc Mhuire Secondary School in Granard is heading to Dublin with three qualifying Junk Kouture designs.
Throughout these past few weeks, the school has been showcasing the students’ works on their Facebook page, which demonstrates their innovation with pre-existing materials.

Junk Kouture is a global competition that gets students from ages 12-19 to create their own costumes, using recycled items and materials, while also representing their school. With a focus on sustainability, the competition recognises that green skills and creativity result in environmental responsibility. Junk Kouture uses creativity in a fun, team-building way to educate and demonstrate how used items can make beautiful results.

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Cities involved are Dublin, Dubai, London, Milan, New York and Paris.

The next stage of the competition will take place in the Helix, Dublin, on March 9. Cnoc Mhuire Secondary School's qualifying designers will be heading here to get one step closer to the win.

The three qualifying designs are from Ms Hetherton’s TY Junk Kouture class, and are called “Milk It”, “Alternative Route” and “Pinky Promise”. The school has given a detailed summary of what each piece is constructed from, and the message behind the designs.

Milk cartons get a whole new purpose with “Milk It” by Shauna Farrelly, also the model for the photoshoot, Leisha O’Reilly and Bronagh Reilly. It was posted online on January 27.

This stunning design was created using milk cartons. 408 cartons in total were used which we collected from Bronagh Rogers in Bean and Bread coffee shop in Granard. Thanks Bronagh for keeping all your rubbish for us!!! The empty cartons were washed, cut, shaped and all hand sewn together to create this elegant dress form.

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The design was inspired by SDG2. Milk is a complete food and is one of the most accessible and affordable ways to deliver vital nutrients to populations. Milk can end hunger, achieve food security and promote a sustainable way of life worldwide.

Jakub Dragowski, who modelled on behalf of the group, Charlie Sheridan and Adrian Portilla present “Alternative Route”. Once again, this group has also been inventive with their chosen materials. This was posted on their socials on January 28:

This sculptural design is made from tyres, umbrella spokes, plastic, floor underlay, chains and insulation blocks. This design is inspired by SDG16. The predominant colours in the design are black and gold. The black represents how the world is suffering due to climate change, war, violence and injustice. The gold represents hope for the future. A sustainable future is dependent on peace, justice, equal rights and opportunities for all.

“Pinky Promise” is by Sarah Murphy, who modelled the design, and Niamh O’Hara. It was posted for the public to see on January 29. The description on the school’s socials described their work as the following

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This breathtaking delicate floral design is made from a collection of disused artificial flowers from a local florist, all handsewn onto a child’s bed canopy which was torn and no longer in use. The design was inspired by SDG5 and it highlights the vital role of women in society and the continuous fight against gender inequalities. Various shades of pink were chosen for the colour scheme as pink represents the power of femininity. Gender equality is a basic human right. Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and therefore half of the world’s potential. The design blooms and blossoms to highlight the progress being made in empowering women to create a better world.

Cnoc Mhuire Secondary School has an incredible winning streak. Charmaine Hetherton thanked the principal, staff, commenting:

“We’ve been doing the competition since 2011. We started making the costumes in September.

“Then it took till the end of January to finish them, get photos and send them in. That was the first round. We’d 9 costumes and 3 got through. In 2022, we won the World Final in Abu Dhabi.”