Bower student wins national sustainable design award
A Bower student took home a category award from this year's Relove Fashion awards at the Rediscovery Centre in Dublin last week.
The award-winning competition encourages secondary school students to challenge fast fashion by creating an innovative, sustainably designed and sourced outfit.
Eilish Breheny from Our Lady's Bower, Athlone, won the Best Casual award at the national final.
To compete for a Relove Fashion award, secondary school students from across 10 local authority areas were challenged to create wearable outfits made from discarded clothing and textiles.
This year the students used a vast array of materials to make their unique outfits, including curtains, off-cuts from alterations, and cushion covers. Students also explored natural dyes such as curry powder, beetroot, and blackberries to bring vibrancy to their creations.
An expert judging panel was tasked with shortlisting entries to a final list of 20. Six winners were chosen from the shortlist in the following categories: Best Casual, Best Evening, Best Tailoring, Best Research, Most Innovative, and Overall Winner.
The overall winner of the competition this year was Beatrice Fortuna, Loreto Bray, Wicklow.
Arran Murphy, Head Judge of Relove Fashion and Programme Manager of Rediscover Fashion said: “I was blown away by the quality of this year’s submissions, and the in-depth research into the fashion industry undertaken by the young people here today.
“The students used lots of innovative techniques and I especially loved the use of the natural dyes.”
Lorraine Keane, IFTA nominated broadcaster and journalist added: “It’s so inspiring to see the talent of the students who entered this year’s Relove Fashion competition. While judging the outfits I could see all of the detail and work that went into each item. All of the students who participated should be really proud of what they have created. They have made a wonderful contribution to sustainable fashion, and I am very excited to see what they do next!”
Arran and Lorraine were joined on this year’s judging panel by Aisling Duffy, Irish Designer and Joanne Rourke, Resource Efficiency Officer with Dublin City Council.
The Relove Fashion awards competition was first developed and is funded through a partnership between all of the ten participating local authorities and the Rediscovery Centre, Ireland’s National Centre for the Circular Economy, in Dublin.