Ahead of the final of Junk Kouture Grand Final on Thursday, 4 February we chat to a former contestant who now works to promote the movement.
Check out the Grand Final gallery here!
Katie Brill tells us about her experience and her passion for her work here!
Growing up, I was very creative - you could always find me with my arts and crafts box, baking in the kitchen or choreographing a performance with my three younger sisters who I would style in our best glad rags as we put on a showcase for our parents in our living room. I wasn't into sports growing up and sometimes felt I was missing out when my friends chatted about their hockey or football matches. However, when I signed up for Junk Kouture after my Junior Cert with two friends, I knew I had found something that was right up my street!
Our design - named Re'Juicing is Ap'Peeling - was made entirely out of orange peel sourced from a local juice bar. We were fascinated by the idea of potentially discovering a future sustainable fashion textile… and that is exactly what we did, as we manipulated orange peel into a leather-like material. Our design made it all the way to the Grand Final of Junk Kouture, winning the Western Region and the Glamour Award.
The whole experience was a whirlwind for 16-year-old me, as I got to perform on stage, was featured in local newspapers and as part of my prize, I got to showcase our design on The Late Late Show and attend the Royal Film Premiere of The Hobbit, in London.
A few years later, I jumped at the chance to work full-time with the Junk Kouture team as their values and ethos are now a part of my everyday living. Junk Kouture played a huge role in my personal development, as it challenged me to problem solve, work on my organisational and team working skills and it hugely boosted my confidence. I was also more environmentally aware in my teens and now in my mid-20s, and I incorporate sustainable thinking in my everyday life.
Background of Junk Kouture
Junk Kouture was founded by CEO Troy Armour in 2010. He realised that this could be a platform for creative students to find their tribe. Incorporating elements of environmental sustainability, fashion, art, design, and engineering, Junk Kouture annually showcases aspiring designers aged 13 – 18-years from across Ireland as they rise to the challenge to create wearable fashion – but the golden rule is that everything used must be 100% recycled!
How Junk Kouture has grown?
With an average of around 4,500 students taking part in the programme each year, Junk Kouture has become the largest youth sustainable education event in Ireland in just 10 years. Junk Kouture started in 2010 with 200 entrants.
By 2014, Junk Kouture had grown in popularity and held the Grand Final in Dublin's 3Arena for the first time. From that point on, 3Arena became home to the Grand Final each year eventually making it the most popular and enjoyable post-primary school creative programme in the country.
Last year was Junk Kouture’s 10th birthday but when Covid-19 broke out in Ireland the show could not go on as planned. Instead, with support from RTE and Creative Ireland, the Grand Final was rescheduled for 2021 and filmed in line with Covid-19 guidelines.
The final will be televised for the first time this Thursday 4th February on RTÉ 2 at 7PM and it will also be live on RTÉ Player.
The sustainability ethos...
Junk Kouture is a really exciting and unique movement that is designed to build the momentum that is required for us all to change the way we live and in particular, the way we consume fashion. Through the engagement of likeminded individuals with Junk Kouture, students have the power to amplify their message to the world: that the biggest crisis facing their generation is climate change and finding a sustainable future for our planet.
Junk Kouture aims to enrich, empower and educate the next generation to look around them and to envision all the waste around us as the resources and textiles of tomorrow. By doing this, we feel we will be contributing to the creation of a truly circular mindset and society.
We also believe that Junk Kouture has the potential to find new sustainable textiles. An example is my design, where in 2011 when making my dress from orange peel, I developed a method to make an alternative leather from orange peel. In recent years, top fast-fashion brands such as H&M have adopted such practices in their growing shift towards sustainable fashion.
Education elements/resources
Junk Kouture aims to tackle climate change differently. By challenging young people to become micro-influencers for change through creativity and circularity, the Junk Kouture platform presents an opportunity for this generation to make an impact through self-expression.
Sustainability and innovation through education and youth creativity have always been the driving forces behind Junk Kouture and the core principles which inform every action it takes. Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as its guide, Junk Kouture has devised an ambitious 10-year Sustainability Policy to constantly challenge the way it operates.
Junk Kouture takes pride in helping inform young people of how they can create and influence positive change in the world. Working with Creative Ireland in 2021, Junk Kouture will develop its online education resources to ensure that student and educators alike can avail of educational material around Junk Kouture's three areas of focus - creativity, sustainability and entrepreneurship.
This resource will also contain CPD programmes for teachers, with the aim of not only helping students with the JK journey, but also to increase participation in the Junk Kouture programme in 2021.
In 2020, Junk Kouture launched a Masterclass series with four environment positive designers. The JK Masterclasses runs every Thursday at 4pm on our YouTube channel with the aim for students to learn a new skill in fashion design from accredited fashion designers as they demonstrate sustainable design techniques and practices students can apply to their Junk Kouture creation and their apparel at home.
Students and teachers can also keep up to date with all things Junk Kouture on all social media channels, @junkkouture, by downloading the competition handbook our website junkkouture.com and on our brand-new Junk Kouture app available to download for both IOS and Android.
