Danú brings Bailieborough CS to Junk Kouture final

A design by students from Bailieborough Community School is among 40 teams of post-primary students taking everyday junk to new heights in the Junk Kouture Grand Final.

The Bailieborough Community School creation will vie for the grand prize in a fashion finale screened on Thursday, December 9, at 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.

Their creation 'Danú - Irish Goddess of the Forest' was completed by Mollie Devlin, Grace Cooney and Lauren McGowan, Transition Year students working under the guidance of their teacher Eileen Mooney.

Through a fashion competition, Junk Kouture challenges the world's emerging designers and artists to envision, create and model high-end couture from everyday junk.

The students repurposed fallen pinecones and conkers from Dun a Rí Forest Park in their designs. These materials show the rebirth and renewal of nature, while the autumnal colours of green and brown are used to represent the beauty of nature and the rich soil of Ireland. The full design took almost six months to complete.

The 2021 finalists will have to impress a star-studded panel of judges. Best-selling cookbook author, entrepreneur and fashion-upcycling enthusiast Roz Purcell; star of RuPaul’s Drag Race Michelle Visage; TV personality and music manager Louis Walsh and former winner and fashion designer Stephen McLaughlin will all lend their expertise in the search for the next winner of Junk Kouture, alongside technical judges head of Department of Fine Art and Education in Limerick School of Art and Design, Dr Tracy Fahey and programme director for Fashion Design at Griffith College, Jane Leavy.