Abandoned tents from Electric Picnic, recycled flower pots and repurposed fuel bags are some of the items Laois students have used to design dresses for this year’s Junk Kouture competition. Four Laois schools are set to represent the county at the prestigious Junk Kouture competition when the regional finals take place next month. Heywood Community School, Scoil Chríost Rí in Portlaoise, Coláiste Íosagáin, Portarlington and Mountrath Community School will all showcase their fabulous designs in the regional finals in the Helix in Dublin over three nights, March 9, 10 & 11. CONTINUE READING BELOW PHOTO Scoil Chríost Rí's ‘An Address Made of Fabric’ Scoil Chríost Rí students Mollie, Jessica and Abbey created their sustainable design ‘An Address Made of Fabric’ using abandoned tents left behind at Electric Picnic. After the festival ended, hundreds of tents were dumped, even though many were still usable. The students collected this waste and transformed it into fabric, cutting, cleaning, and stitching it together to give the material a second life. The dress focuses on Ireland’s growing homeless crisis. Tents are often seen as temporary shelter, but for many people they have become a permanent “address.” By using festival tents, the piece highlights the uncomfortable contrast between privilege and survival. “The bold colours reflect the carnival and theatre atmosphere of Electric Picnic, but they also represent the circus-like nature of the government’s response to homelessness — loud, messy, and full of promises, yet lacking real solutions,” said the girls. The bright colours and eye catching face gems that they found in a tent at EP, force the viewer to look closer and feel uneasy. This dress isn’t just about fashion; it’s about starting conversations and questioning how waste and homelessness are treated in Ireland today. As well as discarded tents the students used ponchos, zips from the tents, face gems and boots left behind at the festival. READ
PICTURES: Abandoned Electric Picnic tents among items used for Laois Junk Kouture designs
