County Roscommon student books place in Junk Kouture World Final

15-year-old Elphin Community College student Lucia Revuelta has booked her place in this year’s Junk Kouture World Final after her eco-friendly creation impressed the judges at last night’s national final in Dublin.

Junk Kouture is an international competition which promotes sustainable fashion by encouraging post-primary school students to design, create and model unique outfits using recycled materials.

After successfully coming through a regional final in March, Lucia was among 60 national finalists who gathered at The Helix in Dublin to battle it out for the ten Irish places on offer at the 2025 Junk Kouture World Final.

Lucia’s winning design, ‘Miss Mares, is aimed at highlighting the beauty of the ocean while also raising awareness of the impact of pollution on marine life. Her creation was made from aluminium cans, sardine tins and foil.

Lucia, originally from Bilbao in Spain, came to the Elphin school as an exchange student two years ago but returned again in Transition Year as she was keen to participate in the Junk Kouture competition.

The strong tradition of Junk Kouture at the school has been led by its art teacher, Susan Prendergast, who has help to guide another Junk Kouture project into a World Final.

“We’re just absolutely thrilled. It’s incredible. Here we go again! Lucia is really artistic- she is an amazing artist and an exceptional student in every regard,” Susan told the Roscommon Herald this morning.

She also paid tribute to Lucia’s backroom team of Colm Flanagan, Anna Kuspolova, Abby O’Callaghan and Kaylagh Peaty.

The date and location for this year’s world final, where 60 finalists will compete, is set to be announced very shortly.

Lucia and nine other Irish winners will be up against peers from the UK, USA, France, Italy and UAE later this year.

Elphin Community College has a very impressive track record in the Junk Kouture competition. Only last year, three fifth year students at the school, Mary McNulty, Vanessa Kielty and Martha Nugent, won a major award at the world final held last year in Monaco.

There were two other Roscommon entries in last night's national final, both of which also qualified from the regional finals.

Meave Galvin, Abby Regan and Bronagh Fahey from Scoil Mhuire Strokestown showcased their design ‘Flight To Freedom’, created from silage wrap and bottle caps.

Mercy College Roscommon’s entry came from Ava Lynch, Suzannah Reynolds and Katie Hanley who created ‘Twisted Tales’ from toilet roll holders and book pages.