Offaly students' Junk Kouture outfits sparkle on TV news in America!
Junk Kouture outfits made by students from Tullamore have made a splash in the United States, where they were modelled on a TV news report and during a half-time show at an NBA basketball game this month!
Over the last 11 years, Junk Kouture has encouraged Irish students to create eye-catching fashion from discarded items. It's now expanding to other countries, and this month was given an Ocean Hero Award at the Footprint Sustainability Summit in Phoenix, Arizona.
The award caught the attention of a local TV crew from Fox News in Arizona, and its reporter Danielle Miller broadcast a report on the Irish students' creations.
The TV news report featured three of the impressive sustainable outfits including 'Memory Lane', which was made out of old camera film by Emma Beatty and Katie Murphy O'Connor from the Sacred Heart School in Tullamore.
You can watch the report here:
There was further excitement when nine Junk Kouture designs then took part in the half-time show of the NBA game between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks in Phoenix on Friday last, February 11.
Designs modelled at the game included 'Fight the Flame', made from fire hoses by Sacred Heart students Roisin Dunne, Kate Healy and Áine Lynch. Outfits by students from Moate Community School and Scoil Chriost Ri in Portlaoise also came under the spotlight at the basketball game.
"We were delighted to win our first global award, the Ocean Hero award at the Footprint Sustainability Summit in Phoenix, Arizona," said Athlone native Katie Brill, who works in PR and Communications for Junk Kouture.
"It was so exciting to bring Irish designs over to America to showcase the great talent involved in Junk Kouture – which were then seen by Fox 10 viewers in Phoenix and everyone in attendance at the summit too!"
Closer to home, registration for the 2022 competition in Ireland has closed and students are now putting the finishing touches to their designs as they wait to hear if they qualify for the regional finals of the Irish competition taking place in the coming weeks.