Cleaning Up: 1. Carmel Breheny and Peter O'Brien; 2. Sarah Morrissey models the winning design with Mary Lennon; 3. Glenda Gilson. (Pix. Leon Farrell/Photocall)
The grand final of The Persil Irish Fashion Awards 2011 took place in The Marks & Spencer Rooftop Restaurant on Grafton St recently. 25 year old fashion student - Mary Lennon from Castleblayney, Co Monaghan studying in NCAD, took first place with her Persil dress that was inspired from garden umbrellas!
Currently in its twelfth year, the hotly contested award is the largest fashion design competition in Ireland. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for young fashion design students hoping to make their mark in today’s competitive market, and with a first prize of €10,000 is a great boost to their budding fashion careers.
Mary’s innovative red design can be worn in ten different ways, which is not only hugely creative, but also practical. Persil’s Mary Horkan is thrilled that - "Year after year, wash after wash, The Persil Irish Fashion Awards are a very exciting part of Irish Fashion students curriculum, this year we are very excited as ‘Red Alert’ is Persil's key colour.”
Persil’s Red Alert brief required students to design in red machine washable fabric for spring summer 2011. Students designed whatever they feel fashionable Irish women would like to wear, using a variety of shades of red and textures of fabric.
