Slane fashion finalist hopes to go one better

A Slane student is one of the finalists in the Gillette 'Venus Embrace Your Dream Dress" competition. Gillian Monaghan, along with other student fashion designers from art colleges around the country, were asked by Gillette to showcase their talent to celebrate the launch of the Gillette Embrace razor. The brief from Gillette to art students was to design a red carpet-style show-stopping dress that would show off the beauty of a woman"s legs and incorporate the vibrant green and turquiose colour scheme. Five finalists have been chosen, including Gillian. Gillian was also a finalist in last year"s 'Dress of your Dreams" competition but was beaten to the top spot by Cork designer Aiden Sheehan. This year, she hopes that her efforts will help her on the way to being the overall winner. The Slane student is currently pursuing a course in fashion design at the Grafton Academy in Dublin. She recently got married and had a lot of input into the design of her winter wedding dress which has really pushed her towards a career in fashion. The winning dress in the competition will be chosen by the end of May. Gillette Venus Embrace has given a bursary to all five finalists to create their dresses. The winner will not only have the opportunity to launch their fashion career but will also win a cash prize, appear on national television and have their dress modelled in a national photocall by a top model, amongst other possible media opportunities.