Funky music rocked the Long Room in Belfast City Hall as young designers strutted along the catwalk in fantasy-style costumes made from recycled materials.
Designers faced the challenge of creating professional costumes using recycled materials. Plastic bags, light bulbs, beer mats, bubble wrap, envelopes, electrical wire, melted crisp bags, quilt material all took on a new and fabulous form in the hands of GCSE and A-level students from schools across the province.
Some 500 students from Northern Ireland and around 6,000 in the Republic of Ireland are taking part in this year's competition, which began in 1998.
This is the first year Form and Fusion Design Awards are open to entrants from Northern Ireland. Judges will select three fabulous costumes from 120 designers in Northern Ireland that will go on to the finals to be held in the prestigious Green Glens Arena in Cork. The team to reach coveted first place will win £2,000.
The Depart of Culture, Arts and Leisure contributed £10,000 to go towards making a video and publicising the event in Northern Ireland. The video will document how Form and Fusion neatly fits with the school curriculum; it will interview teachers about the benefits students have found in taking part; it will follow students as they go through the competition heats and record their opinions.
According to organiser Aidine O'Reilly, a successful entry will show that students thought holistically and operated as a team.
"We encourage students to work as a team. Someone has to lead the team, someone has to design the costume, another person has to perform, someone else has to pick the music," she said.
About 60 percent of the contestants are girls, but O'Reilly hopes to change this.
"I'd love to even up the balance in the future, perhaps bringing woodwork subjects or metal work into it more, would encourage more boys, although every year we do get more boys," she said.
Rebecca McKenzie, 18 from Newry Institute, who wore a costume made of moulded fibreglass and wood, said the theme was "to do with a warrior princess. It is all about armour and women fighting for themselves."
Taking part in the awards inspired Rebecca. "I'm thinking more along the lines of materials and how far you can stretch them and what you can do with simple materials."
Dressed as a woodland nymph, Alison Scott, 16 from Rainey Endowed School in Magherafelt floated as if by magic along the catwalk.
"I used electrical wire, quite a lot of it, melted crisp and plastic bags, vinyl and net, oh yeah and the inside of the padding is made of bras and I also used papier-mâché."
Alison Farren, 15 from St Mary's in Limavady was thrilled to find out her Ice-maiden costume made it to the Northern Ireland finals.
"We used beer cans, cut up plastic bottles and melted them with a hairdryer," she said.
She and four friends made the costume in one month.
St Mary's head of art and design Sean Bresnahan said the project was hugely beneficial to students who took part.
"I saw such massive personal growth in these students and their new confidence has overlapped into other areas of the curriculum," he said.
"News of getting into the finals has created an air of excitement about the school," he added.
About the team
This story was produced by Sarah Montague, 15, Connor Scullion, 15, and Chloe Colclough, 8. It was published in art.ie in Northern Ireland.
