Junk Kouture founder Troy Armour has reached his crowdfunding target – 10 days ahead of the deadline.
The Buncrana businessman yesterday reached the target of €410,000 bringing seed equity funding in Junk Kouture to over €1 million. They are keeping the seedrs platform open for those who still want to get in on the action.
Established in Ireland in 2010, Junk Kouture challenges teens to create high-end wearable couture fashion from everyday junk to highlight that we all must waste less and reuse more. It has now grown into a media and entertainment business with global ambition.
The funding will be used to expand Junk Kouture operations in New York, London, Paris, Milan and while also giving Junk Kouture runway to accelerate its global rollout and deliver the programme to even more kids in Phase 2 markets.
Armour spoke on the positive response to the crowdfunding campaign, “Junk Kouture has been built on its community over the last 11 years and we wanted to give that same community a chance to own part of the future trajectory of the business. We are determined to bring this across the world and will deliver financial and social rewards to our investors.
“I often say Junk Kouture is the coolest company on the planet; creativity, entertainment, young people being the best they can be, inspiring innovation in sustainability – it will bring great social capital for those who have invested to be part of our future.”
Troy Armour, CEO, Junk Kouture
Armour added, “We have a strong sales pipeline and the onboarding of schools in our new 5 markets has exceeded all of our expectations, particularly New York with our partnership with the Department of Education meaning Junk Kouture is now accessible to 1,000,000 teens across our new markets.
“Across the world, there are creative teens in classrooms, who like me, feel their skills don’t fit in traditional sports or academia – their skills aren’t valued. They don’t have a platform to show off what their skills can do. Until now. Junk Kouture gives these kids the chance to compete in a sport of their own, showcasing their skills on global iconic stages, and all around the purpose of sustainability. I believe this dormant creative energy, when woken up, will have the innovative power to build a more sustainable future for all of us.”
Junk Kouture realised its global ambition during the pandemic and the team has grown fivefold in 2021 to 25 full-time staff, many of whom are Junk Kouture alumni with key people now on the ground in its new markets to help onboard schools and brands.
2022 will see Junk Kouture pursue further funding and partnerships with global brands in preparation for a further seven new markets joining the Junk Kouture spectacular; Tokyo, Sydney, Cape Town, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Los Angeles, building a global tour of thirteen markets across six continents feeding into a world final in 2023. The world final promises to be the Eurovision for fashion, a night celebrating the culture and creativity of the world’s youth, all through sustainability.
Junk Kouture is the world’s largest youth sustainability event. Using only recycled materials, students embark on a nine-month program of ideation and are challenged to envision, design, create and model wearable haute couture styled from everyday junk with the ultimate goal of qualifying for a spot in a Junk Kouture Grand Final.
With 15,000 Kouture designs created, 10 tours completed, 60 sold-out arena shows and a community of over 350,000 aspiring artists, designers, engineers and supporters, the company says it is ideally positioned to scale into the 13 fashion cities of the world over the next 2 years.
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