Junk Kouture's Grand Final beckons for creative students

Three entries from Scoil Mhuire in Buncrana and one from St Joseph’s Boys School have reached the final stage of the competition, at which they will showcase their couture creations made from all manner of rubbish.

The three Scoil Mhuire entries are: ‘Anthropocene,’ designed by Mariusz Malone from anti-slip plastic and scrap metals; Razelle was made from pistachio shells, recycled paper and a vintage wedding dress,by students Naoise McGee and Laurel Smith and ‘Lustrous Corruption’ was designed by Aoife Taplin, Abaigh Stokes and Eesha Rai. This is created from nails, nuts and bolts. All teams were mentored by their art teacher teacher Marie Boyce.

St. Joseph’s Boys School Students Se Heaney, Ethan McClelland and Ryan McKane have also successfully earned a place in the Grand Final with their design ‘A Thousand Happy Staples.’ The design was made from an old school uniform, along with two rolls of discarded gold and silver cardboard. The boys were helped along the way by teacher Paddy McCourt.

These teams’ successfully competed in the northern regional final at the start of the month, with only twenty designs making it through to the Grand Final.

Each team now hopes to walk away with the top prize of €2,500 for their school, iPad Minis and €500 cash for the team.

Students could also win the chance to walk the red carpet at the Royal Film Premiere in London with the Bank of Ireland Glamour prize or even a Limerick School of Art and Design Scholarship to cover their fees at the college for one full year of study.

Each of the grand finalists will be adjudicated by the Junk judges; model and DJ Vogue Williams; stylist and TV presenter, Rob Condon; design educator from L.S.A.D., Dr Tracy Fahey; Vogue India’s Lorna McGee; and manager and former X Factor judge, Louis Walsh.

The final will be hosted by XPose’s Glenda Gilson.

Junk Kouture has its roots in Inishowen and was co-founded by Elizabeth Curran and Troy Armour, both from Buncrana.

Laura Lynch, Head of Youth Banking at Bank of Ireland said; “This year’s Grand Finalists are truly spectacular and we have been amazed by the sheer imagination and talent displayed by these young student designers. We are very excited to see the models perform on stage at the 3Arena and the entire audience is in for an exceptional treat. We wish everyone involved the best of luck and remind finalists to get innovative about how they gather support through the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture voting app.”

As part of the judging process, the public can get involved by casting a vote for their favourite design through the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture voting app. Accessed through the BOIStudents Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BOIstudents), voting will close at midnight on Friday 8th April. Individuals can cast a single vote every 24hours. Votes account for 10% of the final mark and can make a huge difference in

such a heated competition.