A Second Chance to Shine: ReSparkled Shortlisted for Drapers Award 2026

There's plenty to celebrate for the Junk Kouture community as our partners at Vision Ireland receive international recognition for ReSparkled, a campaign that gave past Junk Kouture creations another opportunity to shine.

The campaign has been shortlisted for Best Marketing Campaign at the Drapers Awards 2026, with the winners set to be announced in London on 11 November.

For Vision Ireland and Junk Kouture, the nomination is a wonderful acknowledgement of a collaboration built around shared values: connecting communities through creativity, championing circular design and creating new opportunities for young designers to share their work.

Giving Creativity Another Life

Launched under the theme 'Sustainable Sparkle - Shine with Purpose', ReSparkled invited Junk Kouture alumni who had participated in the competition between 2020 and 2025 to revisit their original designs and explore how they could be reimagined.

Rather than starting from scratch, participants were challenged to breathe fresh life into an existing creation by designing a complementary accessory using repurposed materials. The challenge encouraged designers to build on their original ideas while demonstrating the craftsmanship, resourcefulness and circular thinking at the heart of Junk Kouture.

The initiative culminated in a special showcase at the beautiful Chupi flagship store in Dublin's Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, where design teams from across Ireland travelled to the capital to present their creations.

In front of a packed room of guests, educators and industry representatives, the young designers shared their work and the inspiration behind their reimagined creations.

Hosted by Cathy O'Connor, the event featured a judging panel of sustainable fashion designer Aoife McNamara, Chupi Jewellery Founder and CEO Chupi Sweetman, and sustainability expert and Reuz founder Pat Kane.

Venom and Vines, created by Molly Markey and Marija Cernikova from Inver College, Monaghan, was crowned the winning design, recognised by the judges for its creativity, sustainability and innovative design thinking.

The Power of Creative Collaboration

For Junk Kouture, ReSparkled represents something particularly important: the opportunity to continue supporting and engaging with young creatives beyond their initial competition experience.

Through our partnership with Vision Ireland, we have worked together to connect communities across Ireland, bringing Junk Kouture designs and their stories to new audiences through retail spaces, events and creative initiatives.

ReSparkled brought this collaboration to life in a particularly meaningful way, combining Vision Ireland's community reach with Junk Kouture's talented network of young designers and educators.

It offered alumni the chance to revisit their creative journeys, develop new skills and experience their work being celebrated in an entirely different setting.

Celebrating Partnership Success

The Drapers Awards nomination is another encouraging example of the impact that can be achieved when organisations come together with a shared purpose.

Junk Kouture has previously celebrated partnership success at the Irish Sponsorship Awards, winning Best Arts and Cultural Sponsorship and Best Environmentally Sustainable Sponsorship alongside Irish partner EUROSPAR.

These achievements reflect the value of collaborations that extend beyond traditional sponsorship, creating opportunities for young people while delivering meaningful community engagement and celebrating investment in creativity, culture and circularity.

The recognition of ReSparkled adds another chapter to this story and highlights the importance of bringing together complementary strengths to create something with lasting value.

Behind every successful collaboration are the people who make things happen, and we've certainly experienced that through our partnership with Vision Ireland. A team whose enthusiasm, warmth and collaborative spirit have made working together such a positive experience, as we continue to bring shared ideas to life.

This nomination is a wonderful recognition of their work, the collaboration behind ReSparkled and, of course, the talented young designers who brought the campaign to life.

With the Drapers Awards taking place in London on 11 November, we're excited to see how the evening unfolds and to celebrate this recognition of a partnership that continues to champion creativity, circular design and community.

Because sometimes, the most exciting thing about a creation isn't where its story begins, but where it goes next.