Athlone student wins at sustainable fashion design awards
An Athlone student was chosen among the sustainable fashion designers of the future at a unique awards ceremony in Dublin's Rediscovery Centre last week.
Eve Carey, from Athlone Community College, was chosen as one of the winners of the Relove Fashion awards for secondary school students from the Eastern, Midlands and Dublin region.
Eve won the Best Evening Wear category in the competition, which encourages students to take a deeper look at how their clothing is made.
This year’s competition featured 22 finalists selected from some 200 entries who made wearable outfits from materials such as curtains, bed sheets, bike tubes, discarded packaging and accessories made from coconut shells.
The overall winner was announced as Beth Brady from St. Joseph's Mercy Secondary School in Co. Meath. Beth created her outfit from old seatbelts, an old bomber jacket, torn lining from the family linen basket, an old cot sheet, donated fabric and zip once destined to be used for a bridesmaid’s dress, a pair of her dad’s old jeans and scrap fabric. The top was also dyed using onion skins and her accessories were made from the shell of an eaten coconut.
The winners were announced in the following categories:
Overall Winner: Beth Brady, St Joseph's Mercy Secondary School, Co. Meath
Best Evening: Eve Carey, Athlone Community College, Co. Westmeath
Best Research: Claire Cruz, Loreto Secondary School, Co. Wicklow
Best Tailoring: Elizabeth Cooper, Coláiste Clavin, Co. Meath
Best Casual: Erin Flynn, Rachel Higgins, Siobhan McDonagh, Lauren Murtagh, Ardscoil Phadraig Co. Longford
Most Innovative: Lucy Pownall, Ellen Hackett, Sara Tiba, Sophie Atkinson, Lily Massey, Mikeala Dyer, Sandhra Bino, Jillian Bibat, Mya Byrne, Eva Taaffe, Myah Sweeney, Chelsea Harcourt, Ruth Beirnes, Sophie Gale, Our Lady of Mercy, Beaumont, Dublin
The Relove Fashion Competition judges were Arran Murphy Rediscover Fashion Programme Manager at the Rediscovery Centre, Lorraine Keane broadcaster and founder of Fashion Relief, Aisling Duffy, Sustainable Fashion Designer and Dr. Joanne Rourke, Environmental Scientist from the Eastern-Midlands Region Waste Management Plan Office.
Lorraine Keane said: "I have been involved with Relove Fashion for three years now and each year I am blown away with the ingenuity of the students. This year we’ve had students who have created wearable items from seat belts, tyre tubes, curtains and left over textiles. With their beautiful creations the students have proven yet again that sustainable fashion is accessible, creative and practical."
Arran Murphy said: "I look forward to this competition every year as it is so encouraging to see the students putting sustainability at the heart of creating their outfit. For this competition students cannot buy anything new, all of the material has to be sourced from a charity shop, swap shop or reuse items already available at home. It encourages students to take a deeper look at how their clothing is made and challenges them to explore creative reuse options such as upcycling, repairs, alterations and mending."
Eleven local authorities came together, with the Rediscovery Centre, to create the Relove Fashion competition. The competition is funded by the eleven participating local authorities Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Kildare, Longford, Louth, Meath, South Dublin, Westmeath, Offaly and Wicklow.