Massive congrats to Caoimhe Hill.

The Cork native was today announced as this year's winner of the River Island NCAD Fashion Design Bursary. Twenty-one-year-old Caoimhe will receive a €3,500 bursary and a paid three-month internship in River Island’s design studio in London, providing an invaluable launch pad in the highly competitive fashion industry. To battle it out for this year's title, the N.C.A.D. students competing were asked to design a capsule collection for River Island's spring summer 2017 line. Caoimhe, who hails from Kinsale, says her designs were made for the adventurous city girl who wants to be glamorous both comfortable, which isn't the easiest of combinations. However, she pulled it off with ease as you'll see from the below "glamping-inspired" nylon dress, featuring gathered sections with a macramé strap and front slit. The bursary was first launched in 2004, giving final year N.C.A.D. students the opportunity to dream up creative designs and have their portfolios judged by River Island's Design Controller, Lucy Moller. The competition is close to Lucy's heart for this was where her fashion career first started 11 years ago. Speaking about today's announcement, Lucy said:

"Our industry thrives on fresh ideas and it is fantastic to give NCAD graduates the chance to come to our design studio and become part of our cutting edge design team. We are delighted to be amongst the first to witness and embrace the emergence of some of Ireland’s brightest new stars in the fashion industry".

Angela O’Kelly, Head of Design for Body and Environment, N.C.A.D., also commented:

"The ongoing support of River Island is central to the activities of the Fashion area at N.C.A.D. Each year the River Island project advances skill sets in the students, developing knowledge and expertise in key areas of innovative high street fashion design. The Bursary, and placement in the River Island design studios in London offer invaluable experience for our graduates and a superb launch pad into the fashion industry".