The finalists for this year's Nokia Young Fashion Designer Award were announced last night at a reception in Dublin.
The 12 finalists, eight from the Limerick School of Art and Design and four from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, were selected from colleges throughout Ireland.
The competition, now in its fifth year, was included as part of the colleges' curriculum for the first time. Finalists are all fourth-year students.
The brief was to create avant-garde designs inspired by the new Nokia handsets using a colour palette of pink, black, bronze and copper "for an overall look of glamour and decadence". The selected projects have titles like "Flirtatious Follies" and "Under the Quilt". The designs will be presented at a catwalk show in Dublin's Olympia Theatre on March 27th when the winner will be announced.
This year's judges, mostly London-based, include Caren Downie, buying director of Topshop, British designer Jonathan Saunders, accessories designer Pauric Sweeney, Paula Reed of Grazia magazine and fashion designer Leigh Tucker. The winner will receive €5,000 and a work placement with Topshop in London or a bursary.
Finalists from LSAD are Sinéad Lawlor (Co Dublin), Aimee O Beirne and Carol Hopkins (Co Kildare), Jane Horgan and Alanna Murphy (Co Louth), Sarah Greer (Co Waterford), Deirdre Brennan (Co Westmeath) and Fionnuala Donnelly (Co Meath). Those selected from NCAD are Aislinn Sweeney (Co Kerry), Paget Scott-McCarthy (Co Cork), Jennifer Browne (Co Dublin) and Aoife Perry (Co Kildare).