Students from Marling school went to Monaco to compete in the World Final of Junk Kouture, a sustainable fashion competition open to 13–19-year-olds across the world, challenging young people to design, upcycle and create high end couture from recycled waste.

This year, 3 student teams from Marling made the London Finals, with 1 team making the World Finals. Not only did the World Final design receive incredible praise from industry leaders, the audience and the judges, but it also won the overall ‘Purposeful Plastic’ Award, sponsored by TWW Yachts.

Hannah (designer and maker), Chiedza (maker, marketing and photography) and Carys (model), all Year 13 students at Marling School, created End of an Era out of over 1800 plastic milk bottle lids. They used a soldering iron to melt 4 holes into each one and then tied each one together with scrap jersey T-Shirt fabric.

The dress aims to mimic the elegance of a wedding dress, with a halter neck, low back, corset design and a dip hem linking to a large train. Attached are 3 lines of clear bottle caps which signify the 'new era' of milk bottle caps recycling.

The three students and their teacher were flown to Nice and then transferred to stay in Monaco for 2 nights. Students took part in creativity and circularity labs with talks from global entrepreneurs and had the opportunity to meet other finalists from all over the globe.

Following the world final, held in the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, the team were incredibly proud to win their award and spent the final day exploring Monaco.

Hannah, lead designer said: ‘The World Finals were the most amazing experience, I’ve made lots of new friends and I am looking forward to using this opportunity as a spring board into my future fashion career.’

Saffron, lead for Junk Kouture in Marling said: ‘We are incredibly proud of our students both from this year and last year for getting into the World Finals. Not only have the students spent countless hours on their designs, but they have also been flown to Abu Dhabi, and now Monaco, in order to celebrate their achievements."