The Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture Results Are In....Young designers bag a place in the semi-final!
Monday, February 23, 2015
11 Winners and their designs from Holy Trinity College, Cookstown.
As some of my regular readers may remember I recently blogged about this year's Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture Competition, and the impending closing date for this year's entrants! Well after much deliberation, the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture finalists for the Northern region have now been announced allowing much dress relief for students.
Secondary schools from all over the Isle of Ireland, North, South, East and West submitted designs using every sort of junk to mankind, and now we will have the opportunity to showcase these local designs at the Northern regional final on 9th March, 2015! Over 80 young designers from the Northern region of Ireland received the good news on Friday 13th that they are through to the semi-final of the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture competition for their creative entries. Excitement was found at each school where Bank Of Ireland representatives turned up to present the much sought-after Silver Ticket.
Student Owen Mark Henry from Edmund Rice College with his design Hybrid and Bank Of Ireland Representatives Johnny Reilly.
Elizabeth Curran, co-founder of Junk Kouture said, ‘Congratulations to all semi-finalists of the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture Recycled Fashion Competition in association with Repak 2015. The standard this year was exceptionally high which made our decisions extremely difficult and the number of entries this year was even greater than years before. We are really looking forward to our live shows across the country and we hope everyone will come support their local talent.”
All of the respective regional finalists of the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture recycled fashion competition will storm the catwalk in The Helix on the 6th of March 2015, Millenium Forum Derry on the 9th of March 2015, (Tickets are on sale now from Millennium Forum’s box office), The Royal Theatre Castle bar on the 11th of March and the University Concert Hall Limerick on the 13th of March. The Grand Final featuring the top 80 dresses will take place in the 3Arena, Dublin on 24th April 2015.
St Louis Grammar Students from Ballymena and their designs Berry Bliss, Wired-in For Sound and Forest Fairy with BOI Rep Jan Young.
On foot of the announcement, Sean Sheehan, Regional Director, NI Consumer & Small Business for Bank of Ireland UK said "This is our fourth year with Junk Kouture, and we're very proud to have played a part in growing it from a great initial idea, to one of the biggest fashion events in the country. The fact that Junk Kouture reaches virtually every corner of the country is a great fit with the regional, nationwide nature of our business. And along with sport and youth enterprise, this fun and creative project really broadens our offering to schools and students”.
Once on the catwalk they will be judged by Junk Kouture’s expert judges who are responsible for finding and crowning the winner of the prestigious fashion competition including; model and fashionista Vogue Williams, stylist and TV presenter Rob Condon, art and design educator Tracy Fahey and Repak Marketing & Communications Manager Laura Murphy. In addition, Heather O’Connor a previous winner in the Southern Regional Finals will feature to help judge and select finalists to go through to the grand finale.
Winners Ellen Beattie and Celine McKnight and their designs Corneille Noir and Alice in Wonderland from Newbridge Integrated College.
Commenting on the announcement, Repak Marketing & Communications Manager and judge Laura Murphy said; “It’s such a privilege to be a judge on the Junk Kouture panel. The skill and creativity shown by the students has been phenomenal and it’s wonderful to see discarded materials, which would otherwise simply be thrown out, transformed into haute couture. Best of luck to the semi-finalists from all at Repak!”
I for one am totally blown away by the sheer creativity of this year's semi-finalists, and I wish all of the young designers all the very best for the semi-finals!!
Massive thanks to Lucy McIlwaine at CMPR for press release and all relevant imagery!
