Four designs from Dundalk chosen to compete at finals of Junk Kouture

Four designs from Louth have been chosen to compete at the Dublin City Final of Junk Kouture, having made it through the regional finals last week.

Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 March saw the next generation of Irish up-and-coming eco-conscious creators, innovators, and fashion designers at the 2023 Regional Finals of Junk Kouture, the world’s largest sustainable fashion competition for youth. 

1,200 haute-couture designs made from 100% recycled materials by post-primary students entered the 13th year of the creative programme in Ireland. From this, 300 designs were shortlisted and aired on Junk Kouture’s YouTube and TikTok channel for the 2023 Regional Finals. 

Taking to one of Ireland’s most prestigious stages, Louth’s four finalists will face stiff competition from over 70 other entries from across the country in this year’s Dublin City Final. Dundalk Grammar School’s two designs will compete with St Vincent’s Secondary School as well as Colaiste Ris in a bid to secure a space at the inaugural World Final of Junk Kouture where Irish finalists will compete with their fellow creative peers from Paris, Milan, NYC, London and Abu Dhabi. 

The four designs from Louth heading to the Dublin City Final are: 

• Le Nouveau Riche by Theo Connolly from Dundalk Grammar School created from waste from vaccine centres (vaccine caps, vaccine vials, and needle caps), an old wedding dress and cardboard.
• Monochrome by Aoibhinn Pepper and Grace Rogers from St Vincents Secondary School created from can tabs, fishnet, umbrellas, old clothes, rubbish bags, foam.
• Weight Of Water by Ellie Murphy and Grace Dunne from Dundalk Grammar School, created from plastic bottles, loofas, old tablecloth and bedsheet.
• Made You Look by Sarah O'Kane from Coláiste Ris created from newspaper and seatbelts.  

Junk Kouture is Powered by RTE. The Regional Finals can be watched back on Junk Kouture’s YouTube channel and details of the Dublin City Final this May including date, venue and tickets will be announced in the coming weeks. Eurospar and DHL are the official partners. 

Stay up to speed with all things Junk Kouture 2023 on www.junkkouture.com and on Instagram and TikTok @junkkouture.