Local Junk Kouture world champions invited to New York leadership forum
Moate Community School’s Junk Kouture world-winning design created by students Meabh O'Shea, Evie Nugent and Eva Donlon, was invited to participate in The International Women's Forum at the 2024 World Leadership Conference and Gala in New York recently.
The International Women's Forum celebrated 50 years of women changing the world at the 2024 World Leadership Conference and Gala from May 15 to May 17. Model Eva Donlon strutted her stuff wearing #TagMe at the event in front of 1,200 business female leaders.
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Model Eva Donlon wearing #TagMe in New York.Image 2 of 4
Evie, Méabh and Eva pictured at the One World Observatory in New York.Image 3 of 4
Eva Donlon with Stephanie Phair.Image 4 of 4
Méabh O’Shea, Eva Donlon, Founding Partner of Atelier Fund, Marty Wikstrom and Evie Nugent.The students and their teacher Pamela Keogh also had the opportunity to do some sightseeing on their trip, visiting FIT School of Art and Design at the University of New York, Central Park, Ground Zero Memorial, Brooklyn Bridge, One World Observatory, SoHo, Times Square and and Saks of Fifth Avenue. To experience these iconic places was truly a fantastic experience for the students.
Art teacher Ms Keogh said that the event provided a "great opportunity" for the girls to showcase their design in New York and that she was "very proud" of them.
"They definitely had a great time. The whole thing was brilliant." Ms Keogh added that the students were treated very well by the Junk Kouture team.
The dress was inspired by the famed designer Missoni and made from plastic colour testers from Delta Q, a plastics manufacturer in Athlone. The group was previously praised for its stunning design which saw over 2,500 tags, handsewn together into a colourful dress and headpiece. The plastic samples usually end up in landfill because the different colours make them difficult to recycle.
The Women’s Forum was born in New York City in 1974 as a network for women leaders at the top of their game to support and inspire each other which turned out to be an idea powerful enough to travel the world.
The 2024 conference featured women leading the way in technology, healthcare and media as well as exploring their impact on society: how more women at the top change the world of work for those who follow and where the “women’s movement” is today. The forum ended on self-expression, how we reveal our values and selves through fashion and how we tell the stories of our lives.