A Donegal designer is part of the team that created Bambie Thug's costume for tonight's Eurovision final in Malmö, Sweden.
Mariusz Malon, originally from Poland and moved to Buncrana when he was 7, specialises in wearable art.
A three-time winner at the Junk Kouture national fashion competition while he attended Scoil Mhuire Buncrana, he later went on to study in Co Derry and Manchester.
Now he has his own company, Malon Fashion, working out of a small studio in Manchester.
He said it feels "insane" to be part of a team that has made it to the Eurovision Final to represent Ireland.
"I've always been a fan of Eurovision and coming from a small town in Ireland and then moving to Manchester, I was never expecting to be part of such a big event," he said.
Mr Malon said: "When I was contacted to do this, I was very shocked. I had so much hope for Bambie from day one that they're going to do great.
That's why I took this project on because I believe so much that Bambie has the potential to take the crown and win."
Describing his work as being very visual and theatrical, he thinks of art first rather than the garment.
That is why he believed this was the perfect project for him to be creative and artistic.
"Obviously Bambi has such a witch aesthetic, and a lot of inspirations were pagan so I had a lot of freedom to be creative," he said.
I’m not a typical designer, I work a lot with drag queens, so I get to be as crazy as I want," he added.
For this project, Mr Malon was contacted through Bambie Thug’s stylist Beau Tiger Rae to make the costume.
The trio came up with ideas and inspirations with Mr Malon bringing the concept to life.
He said they were very excited about "the reveal" within the performance on Tuesday night.
On semi-final night, Bambi Thug removed their black tulle dress, covered with feathers and hair from a wig, to reveal another outfit adorned with a transgender flag – a reference to their non-binary identity.
There will be no changes to the outfit for tonight’s final due to strict Eurovision rules.
In the run up to creating the costume Mr Malon was busy with commissions for Drag Race UK and said it was a very quick turn around to make the dress.
After a couple of fittings in London and Manchester it took roughly a week to complete.
"I came to Sweden with all my supplies and I ended up staying up maybe four nights in a row till 7’clock in the morning, stoning the dress with Swarovski crystals and jewellery, adding feathers and just elevating it to be on a different level," he explained.
"It It all happened here in a hotel room, and I think that's what's crazy because obviously I don't have my sewing machine," he said.
"Everything had to be done by hand on the floor in the hotel. But I'm really proud with how it's looking to be honest," he added.
The long hours executing the dress and attending rehearsals have left him feeling both excited, stressed and dissociated from what he’s actually doing.
"I don’t think I am realizing how big of a thing this is and I know it’s going to hit me the moment I go back home and lie down on my bed," Mr Malon said.
"When you have so many emotions, you just kind of lock them away until you’re ready to release everything," he added.
Feeling confident that Bambi Thug will win tonight, the theatrical designer is also sure he will cry from excitement in a big release of emotions.
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