Fey and Sophie rock the runway
A pair of crafty Queen Margaret Academy pupils are preparing to compete in a top fashion competition with their couture masterpiece inspired by Troon beach.
Best friends Fey Donaghue and Sophie Tse will be rocking the runway this week as they take part in the Junk Kouture competition at Glasgow’s Armadillo on Thursday, February 9.
The 14- year- olds have spent hours hunting for shells on Troon beach, giving up their lunch breaks and taking over each others kitchens to sew, weave and glue their ecoinspired dress created from BIN BAGS. With just one day to go, Fey is preparing to model the finished piece to a star- studded panel of judges including Louis Walsh, Katie Brill, Una Healy and Rhys Ellis.
Fey said: “We are so excited the big day is almost here, our dress is inspired by our childhoods on the beach and the captive beauty of Troon, we want to send the message through our art that we need to respect the natural environment in our town.
“We incorporated shells which we spent hours finding, we then wove the bin bags, bubble wrap and pink plastic which we found floating around the beach to complete the dress.
“Sophie and I really enjoyed seeing our designs being made into a reality, all the hard work has paid off and we are so excited about the opportunity we are now getting to showcase the dress.”
On creating the dress, Sophie added: “We’ve used over five rolls of bin bags. They were really versatile to work with and both of our mums have been really helpful.
“Fey’s mum owned a wedding shop so she showed us different tips and tricks on how to adjust the dress, the sparkly pieces added some magic and our shell hunting missions paid off.
“From a shell crown to a shell ring, we’ve managed to incorporate a lot of Troon beach into our work and we’ve both loved every minute working on our dress.”
The pair will be joined by their principal teacher of art, Lesley Parham on the big day alongside Fey’s mum Lyn Hughes. Lyn told the Post: “The girls spent hours and hours working on their design.
“I was so impressed with their enthusiasm and dedication to the dress and I wish them all the very best of luck.”
Lesley added: “We are very proud of Fey and Sophie, they have worked really well together to make this such a success and have given up most of their free time at school to complete their project.
“The techniques they have used are really sophisticated from weaving and sewing the bin bags and embellishing the dress with pearls and shells, both of them are interested in fashion and textiles so this has been a great introduction into the industry for them.”