Three creative Carndonagh Community School pupils brought the glamour to the world stage yesterday as they won a major Junk Kouture award in Monaco.
Julia Grant, Ciara Gilmore and Ailish Doherty won the ‘Glamour Award’, powered by ATU.
It was a hugely proud moment for the team and their teacher, Pauline McDermott, as they competed against 60 finalists from around the globe at the prestigious Salle des Princes in Monaco’s Grimaldi Forum.
The Carndonagh students’ showstopping ‘Invidia’ design was created using 100s of individually cut out circles from plastic shoe boxes, gold pins, an old bathroom curtain and embroidery hoops.
INVIDIA by Ailish Doherty, Julia Grant, Ciara Gilmore. Carndonagh Community School
The emerald gown was designed in a classic silhouette taking inspiration from the work of Iris Van Herpen, particularly her Fall 2021 collection. The team cut each circle out in different sizes, sprayed them gold and green and then riveted them together using gold pins.
The team repurposed a gold mesh bathroom curtain into the skirt and added more circles to the bottom to make this elegant piece.
Broken embroidery hoops and circles were used to create the headpiece. They used green to represent the envy we feel towards a world without pollution.
Ailish Doherty, Julia Grant, Ciara Gilmore in Monaco
Junk Kouture, founded by Buncrana man Troy Armour, is the world’s largest sustainable fashion competition challenging schools to design, upcycle and create high-end sustainable fashion from recycled junk.
The Donegal links don’t stop there – as this year’s awards were designed by three students and graduates of ATU Letterkenny, Lara Jane Doherty, Elizabete Klova, and Emer McLaughlin, who also attended the event.
Plus, Muff DJ ‘Ois Bosh’ had the honour of keeping the energy high with his incredible beats! Oisin McLaughlin first performed for Junk Kouture in 3Arena in 2019, and year on year he returns to perform at JK events alongside playing some of the biggest festivals and venues in the country.
