A year after her older brother passed away during one devastating day in school, Rachel Irwin, a 15-year-old in Ireland, decided to channel her deep-seated grief into the making of a dress. She participated yet again in the, now global, contest, Junk Kouture, for students to make couture fashion out of recycled materials, working hard over many months.
Troy Armour, CEO and founder of the venture, recalls what Irwin had said about her inspiration: “She said, ‘One year ago, my brother died at school – his heart stopped in class. I had an extremely tough year – my father doesn’t speak anymore, my mother is crying most days. And I decided to make a dress to talk about the grief of this one year.’”
