Two thrifty students from Letterkenny have flown into the Junk Kouture regional final with their unique design.
Brodie and Mirren McFeely are through to represent Loreto Letterkenny in the first heat of the cutting-edge Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture competition.
The national contest encourages young designers in second level education to create striking fashion designs and impressive works of wearable art from everyday junk that would normally make its way into the bin.
The Mc Feely sisters were inspired by their love of butterflies to fashion a showstopping dress called ‘CHRYSALIS’ that evolves from a caterpillar into a butterfly. The transformative piece was made using recycled materials, as is the requirement of the competition.
CHRYSALIS Junk Kouture by Brodie and Mirren McFeely, Loreto Letterkenny
Brodie and Mirren’s mum Bernie told Donegal Woman: “The girls have loved butterflies since they were small and we grow buddleias known as the butterfly plant in our garden to attract them.”
Bernie explained how the dress brought new life to various items around the house: “The girls used a damaged gazebo for the skirt and bodice and various garden paraphernalia that was destined for the skip.
“They were also conscious of the overuse of plastics and the damage to the environment so used beachcombed bottles and bottles from our recycle bin to show that, with thought, you could repurpose plastic in various ways, as they did by cutting them up to become butterflies.
“Brodie and Mirren hand-painted, embroidered, machine/hand sewed and weaved everything in their creation.”
CHRYSALIS Junk Kouture by Brodie and Mirren McFeely, Loreto Letterkenny
The sisters have set their sights on bringing CHRYSALIS all the way to represent their region in the Dublin finals in May. But first, they need to pass the voting stage and impress the judges at the North Regional Final in Derry on 1st March.
Junk Kouture, now in its ninth year, continues to inspire and ignite a passion for fashion in teenagers while at the same time subtly educating them about the importance of recycling and reusing waste.
Voting for the Northern Finals opens from Monday 18th February – Friday 22nd February 2019. All votes go to 10% of designers’ marks on the night of the regional heat.
To vote for your favourite designs visit: app.junkkouture.com
February 18, 2019
I love the final dress, but not so much the chrysalis stage, although the symbolism is good. The dress itself is beautiful! These girls could do a fashion line using the butterfly theme and these colorful plastic butterflies in a variety of different items of clothing. Good job and so creative!