Ecolution talks fast fashion with Junk Kouture

RTÉ News​

14-05-2025

Sustainability met creativity at the Junk Kouture Dublin City Finals, and Ecolution were at the Helix in Dublin to hear all about the amazing show, the message behind the movement and to meet the young people involved.
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We spoke to the teams who made it through to this year's showcase finale. And they brought high fashion costumes, all made from materials that would otherwise wind up in the bin. Because they know it's high time we change our attitude to clothing.
An EPA study carried out by researchers at MTU in 2019 found that the per capita consumption of new textiles in Ireland is 53 kg per person per year – that's almost 1 kg per week of new textiles purchased by every citizen.
On an international scale it's thought that one truckload of textile waste is dumped every second, ending up incinerated or in landfill. And less than 1% of the clothes we wear end up recycled into new products.
The rise in fast fashion and low cost retailers online has seen massive growth in single wear clothing. Discarded textiles are often exported, with a huge volume of material arriving through the duty free ports of Chile in South America. So much of it is of such low quality that it is dumped illegally in the Atacama Desert with vast mountains of waste clothing left to rot.
It's clear we need to change. And one way to change is to take action. And Junk Kouture lets young people make a very clear statement.
Founded in 2010, Junk Kouture is a zero cost sustainable fashion event open to 12-19 year-olds that challenges young people to design, upcycle and create high end Kouture from recycled Junk, before showcasing their design and representing their school on stages across the world.
Ecolution got behind the scenes to capture the excitement leading up to the final and met Co Westmeath student Clodagh Ramsey from Wilson's Hospital School. She walked away as the World Designer of the year in 2024 for her design 'Aquacultural'. The dress, made from discarded mussel shells weighed a whopping 32kg and championed sustainable food production and gender equality.
We only got to speak to a fraction of the people behind the designs on show. Those we did see had made couture level costumes out of household rubbish. All with repurposing and reuse in mind, some of the central ideas of the circular economy.
The outfits might be totally catwalk, but the message it carries let all the participants leave having learned ways to be more sustainable in their everyday lives, as well as strutting their stuff on stage.