selected through the Wildcard process. These designs are selected by partners. In 2020, Media Partner RTE were responsible for the selection of the five Wildcard designs, with radio presenter and fashion guru Tara Stewart making the selections. Grand final In 2015, Junk Kouture moved its Grand Final event to Ireland's largest arena, 3Arena, Dublin for the first time. Since then, it has held each of its Grand Finals in the venue, attracting over 20,000 audience members in the process. The first Grand Final held in the 3Arena, was won by Le Paon Majestueux, created by Roscommon-student Luke McEvoy. In Ireland, national broadcaster RTE aired the 2020 Grand Final for the first time in February 2021, with a 50-minute broadcast on the RTE2 channel. This was subsequently followed by a further broadcast of the 2021 Grand Final in December 2021. International competition In 2021, Junk Kouture announced that it would hold its first ever series of international competitions in 2022. This would see the programme open in five new cities - London, New York City, Milan, Paris and Abu Dhabi. These competitions, along with the established Irish competition would then see students compete against each other in a global final in 2022. Judges The judging panel has been made up of both industry experts and education professionals since the first edition in 2010. In most recent years, celebrity judges have been included in judging panels, with mainstay and X-Factor star Louis Walsh being joined by Rosanna Davison, Una Healy, Pippa O'Connor Ormond, Doireann Garrihy, Rob Condon, Lorna McGee and Vogue Williams since 2014. Core judges have included Stephen McLaughlin (a former Junk Kouture contestant), Tracy Fahey (Limerick School of Art & Design) and Jane Leavey (Griffith College, Dublin) since 2018. In 2020, RuPaul's Drag Race star Michelle Visage joined the programme as a judge. In 2021, upon international expansion, judges were secured for the competition in the USA - Ben Barry, (Dean of Fashion, Parsons School of Design; cross-stitch artist Emma McKee (The StitchGawd); and innovative designer, Nicole McLaughlin. In the United Kingdom, Head of Fashion at Central St Martins, Fabio Piras was joined by media personality Laura Whitmore and author Mehreen Baig on the judging panel. In Italy, Piras was joined by journalist Sara Maino (Vogue Italy) and climate activist Matteo Ward (Fashion Revolution). In France, model Lise Pierron and Jean-Baptiste Andreani (CEO, Institut Français de la Mode) were selected