Borrisokane students ready for world fashion final

A costume made from bulrushes harvested from Lough Derg and feathers taken from an old pillow has qualified two students from Borrisokane and their art teacher for a world fashion final.

Now the two Fifth Year students from the town's community college, Emma Connolly, from Terryglass, and Orlagh White, from Borrisokane, are preparing to jet off next month with their Dromineer based art teacher, Eileen Forde, to the grand event in Abu Dhabi.

This will be the first ever staging of the World Junk Kouture Final, a sustainable fashion competition open to 13-18-year-olds aimed at challenging young people to design, upcycle and create high end couture from recycled rubbish.

The focus of the competition is on creating more sustainable clothing against a background of rising carbon emissions produced by the fashion industry, a sector that is contributing significantly to the rising temperatures that threaten life on Earth itself.

“We can't wait,” said Ms Forde, in anticipation of the upcoming event.

“It's a chance of a lifetime,” exclaimed the art teacher, who just happens to be a first cousin of Tipperary ace hurler, Jason Forde.

It has certainly been a whirlwind year for Emma, Orlagh and Ms Forde, who earned their ticket to Abu Dhabi after they came through the South final with flying colours and then have their design ranked among the top ten at the Dublin showdown staged at the Bord Gáis Theatre in the capital last May.

By that stage they were beginning to be treated like celebrities, appearing the following night the Late Late Show with Ryan Tubridy and showing their wonderful costume off to the nation on prime time television.

“To be honest we thought that was the pinnacle when we got to Dublin and the Late Late, but then it was announced that we were one of the ten competitors going to Abu Dhabi – there was incredible excitement,” Ms Forde revealed.

THE FINAL

The final, to be staged in the magnificent Etihad Arena and hosted by a country of year-round warm sunshine, will feature a total of 60 competitors for the top cities in the world - London, Paris, Milan, New York, Abu Dhabi itself and of course Dublin.

Interestingly, the concept for the Junk Kouture competition was first conceived by an art teacher from Co Donegal and has now grown into a major international event, the significance of such a competition having spiralled due to the major emphasis on sustainability sparked by the global heating crisis.

“It's after exploding because of the whole idea of sustainability. There's huge funding behind it and it is now a massive competition,” said Ms Forde, a teacher in the college for 15 years, and who has worked with many other local students for Junk Kouture competitions in the past.

A great deal of work and preparation has being done in the Borrisokane college for the world showdown that will feature the most creative and imaginative teenager designers from the top cities around the globe.

COSTUME CONCEPT

The concept for the costume created by Emma and Orlagh is rooted in the lakeside landscape close to where they themselves live.

Ms Forde reveals: “They wanted to base the idea for the piece around Lough Derg and they came up with the idea of making the corset for the costume from bulrushes sourced from the lake.

“Then they sourced duck feathers from an old pillow given to them by Orlagh's grandmother, which they used to make the skirt. This part of the costume was created by knotting the feathers onto strands of threads and fishing line and then they attached the skirt to the corset of bulrushes.”

The costume is completed by a head piece made from scraps of old jewellery and little bits and bobs from the metalwork room in the college. No glue is used in the creation of the piece, in keeping with the concept of promoting sustainable couture that is the hallmark of the competition. Everything done to create the fashion piece is either woven or braided or knotted.

“It's very traditional looking and very Irish, and only weighs a couple of grammes,” says Ms Forde.

The weight of the piece is crucial to the Borrisokane imaginative presentation prepared for Abu Dhabi by the two girls. Their show will incorporate a short ballet performance by Emma in the costume and it was vital that what she is going to be wearing is light in order to execute the dance.

Each of the 60 entries will be showcased on the catwalk during the show and the college is hopeful that Emma's ballet piece, crafted after hours of work with her dance teacher Sophie Bailey will impress the judging panel.

Besides the overall top award, there are a number of other category awards, including a gong for the garment made from the most unusual materials as well as one for the best hair and make-up.

Over the last number of weeks Ms Forde and Emma and Orlagh have been engaged in frantic preparations for the final, including participating in interviews conducted by a production team in Abu Dhabi that is putting together a film presentation to run with the auspicious event.

After all their hard work, here's hoping the Lough Derg inspired costume makes waves on world final day on January 11.