Junk Kouture Contest Comes to Sydney

“No one ever changed the world by being the same as anyone else,” says Troy Armour, founder of Junk Kouture, the global young people’s fashion competition that celebrates recycling and sustainability. Since the media competition’s inception in Dublin, Ireland in 2010, Junk Kouture has had entrants from 1,000 schools, produced 15,000 Kouture designs and saved 40,000kg of waste from landfill. “In keeping with our core values of sustainability and the circular economy everything used to create the design must be 100 percent recycled.”

Challenging secondary school students aged 13-18 to turn trash into high-end fashion Junk Kouture is a chance for your students to immerse themselves in this circular way of thinking while investigating environmental sustainability, fashion, art, design, and engineering.

In 2022/23 finalists from 13 countries, including Australia New Zealand, will compete for the Junk Kouture World Designer of the Year crown!

This is an opportunity for the fashionistas in your school community to test their skills, push the boundaries and make that giant leap of faith by answering that ever-gnawing call, “Can I do this?” Yes, they can!

Junk Kouture’s aim is to “engage audiences, create impact, and influence the community with a positive and lasting legacy”, says Justin Cullen, JK Board member for pressreader.com. Each year entrants and audiences are engaged in a series of events and regional finals that end with a televised grand final spectacular!

2019 Winner Maxim O’Sullivan found himself and unleashed his potential with his winning design made entirely from discarded items he found in his family-run cinema. “The base garment is made entirely from crocheted video tape. It took hundreds of hours to make. The hat is made from spray-painted film rolls that I found out the back and I painted old computer keyboard keys for some of the detail. I’ve also used DVDs and some of the casings from the film rolls.” Maxim told RTE

With Junk Kouture’s online digital competition the global stage is open for young creatives to get excited and get inspired to breathe new life into junk that has outlived its purpose.

From excess paper brochures from the Ladies Gaelic Football Association to milk cartons, sea glass and discarded tea bags the possibilities are as endless as the waste that reaches landfill every year.

Junk Kouture has a great YouTube masterclass series to get your students on their way and help them Find Inspiration, Textile Research, How to Hand Manipulate Recycled Textiles and more.

We recommend subscribing to Junk Kouture for updates on global applications.

This is certainly one for the budding costume designers in your midst and students with a passion for creating change with fashion. Head to Junk Kouture’s various social media to check out the 2021 finalists and keep up to date.

You could be fostering the talent of the next Catherine Millman Australian costume designer, production designer, set designer, and film producer. and winner of 4 Oscars, 5 BAFTAs and a Tony Award amongst others.

And did you see the dress created by Bethany Cordwell from the Qld Ballet costume department that won the Emerging Designer Award at the Melbourne Cup this year? Made completely from office document wallets that Bethany crafted into 20,000 hand cut scales that were then sewn on individually. Though not made from recycled waste Bethany’s innovation is definitely in the Junk Kouture vein.