Pupils from St Paul’s RC Academy have won a national competition which saw them design fashion pieces from every day “junk” materials.
The team of sixth year pupils – Ayden Bryson-Sword, Ellie Byrne and Ummi Ibrahim – are celebrating after taking home the top prize in the Junk Kouture contest from the SECC in Glasgow.
The event saw pupils design stunning fashion wear out of discarded materials — a process referred to as upcylcing.
Watched by a panel of judges including Louis Walsh, Una Healy from The Saturdays and fashion designer Rhys Ellis, they came out on top after seeing off stiff competition from 80 other entries from across Scotland
Their entry, titled Wear No Evil, focused on the environmental damage “fast fashion” can have on the planet, and looked to open a discussion on bringing environmentally conscious change to the industry. Their winning design was an outfit made from old maps.
As well as winning the Junk Kouture trophy, the team were each awarded an iPad mini and £500 to share, in addition to a £1,000 cash prize for the school.
Art and Design teacher Carly Nicoll, who worked with the pupils on their entry, said the whole community had rallied behind the campaign.
She said: “All of us at St Paul’s are completely astonished at having won this prize. Ayden, Ellis and Ummi all worked extremely hard on this project, and to have just been shortlisted to the finals with the 80 other entries was amazing.
“To have been involved in the finals was an achievement itself but winning the competition is just fantastic.
“All of the entries from the other teams looked terrific, and we did spend a lot of the evening thinking perhaps they might win.
“Being announced as winners was very overwhelming, and it was the first time our school had entered the competition.
“The whole school and wider community were behind the team from the very beginning, and it was so nice to feel like the entire city was supporting us. So much so that we gained the highest number of public votes, through Facebook, out of all 80 finalists. We are incredibly grateful.”
