Junk Kouture rocks the red carpet at Royal London Film Premiere!
Thursday, January 02, 2014
One of the things I feel very passionately about is the need to support our local design talent, and so I was extremely excited to hear the recent success of some of the winning entries from recycled fashion competition, Junk Kouture as their designs stormed the red carpet at the recent Royal Premiere in London of 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom'!
Having seen the winning finalists creations on the catwalk at West Coast Cooler Belfast FASHIONWEEK AW13, I was blown away by the sheer level of creativity, detail and workmanship in each of the intricate designs and was so excited to see them appear again on the red carpet!!
In London's Leicester Square alongside celebrities and Royalty, students Romy Marren and Ta Naw Naw were modelling their own designs, Banana Belle and Say Mo Wah respectively. Also gracing the red carpet with the Junk Kouture team was model former Miss Universe competitor Roz Purcell who was also wearing an eye-catching and bespoke Junk Kouture creation, 'Crystal Ghost' by students Megan Mc Carney and Cathy Brennan as well as former Miss Northern Ireland Joanne Salley who wore the 'Dancing with Wolves' dress made from lamb's fleece and wood.
Banana Belle.
Designers - Romy Marren, Emily Mannion, Grace Fitzpatrick.
Model - Romy Marren.
Materials used - banana skins, copper wire and leather.
Say Mo Wah.
Designer/ Model - Ta Naw Naw.
Materials - White Plastic Bags.
Both the students' designs were created exclusively from recycled or reused materials for the eco conscious Junk Kouture competition and won the Red Carpet prize at the Grand Final in May. The Irish schoolgirls were joined on the red carpet by royal guests and the cast and crew of the new film based on the life of Nelson Mandela, 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom'.
The Crystal Ghost dress, cleverly made out of paper and polystyrene cups, made the leap from art room to red carpet via a year of success with the Junk Kouture competition. The girls who made it heard about the competition, which seeks to give aspiring young designers the opportunity to work with junk materials to create wearable fashion art, through past successful applicants from their school who reached similar achievements. Cathy Brennan, who was delighted about her dress's appearance in London said: "It was such a great experience and one I'll never forget! I can't believe I went from making this dress in school, to the catwalk and onto the red carpet with celebrities. Entering Junk Kouture is best thing I've done and I'm so proud of myself Megan for getting this far."
The Crystal Ghost dress, cleverly made out of paper and polystyrene cups, made the leap from art room to red carpet via a year of success with the Junk Kouture competition. The girls who made it heard about the competition, which seeks to give aspiring young designers the opportunity to work with junk materials to create wearable fashion art, through past successful applicants from their school who reached similar achievements. Cathy Brennan, who was delighted about her dress's appearance in London said: "It was such a great experience and one I'll never forget! I can't believe I went from making this dress in school, to the catwalk and onto the red carpet with celebrities. Entering Junk Kouture is best thing I've done and I'm so proud of myself Megan for getting this far."
Crystal Ghost.
Designers - Megan McCarney and Cathy Brennan.
Materials - Paper and polystyrene cups.
Founder of Junk Kouture, Elizabeth Curran said: "It was so exciting to be back in London, and on the red carpet for another movie premiere with Junk Kouture. The girls really worked the red carpet and I think they enjoyed the flashbulbs of the hundreds of photographers as well as the cheers from the fans. It's such a shame we can only bring two students over because the talent and creativity throughout the competition means that some of our dresses really could compete with international designers for that special red carpet wow factor! The 2014 deadline in January is just around the corner so I really can't wait to see what our 'trashionista' students have come up with for the 2014 competition, it's amazing to think that someone sitting at home right now could be joining the celebrities next December for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - and all because of their creativity."
Junk Kouture Recycled Fashion Competition 2014 is proudly supported by ERP and Bank of Ireland and is open to all second level students in both Northern Ireland and the Republic Of Ireland. The deadline for submission of entries for the 2014 competition is 31 January 2014. For further information, please log on to junkkouture.com or visit the Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/junkkouture
Massive thanks to Lucy McIlwaine at CMPR for the press release and all relevant imagery.
