Celebrating the First Official Ireland Fashion Week and the Voices Shaping Its Future

Ireland’s very first fashion week was unsurprisingly an enormous success and placed a long deserved spotlight on some of the best up and coming designers from across the island. Without a doubt, luxury and tech entrepreneur, Ashley McDonnell, succeeded in her initial vision for the nationwide event, focusing more on ‘community, education [and] giving a platform to people’ than on ‘bringing in media and buyers’. 

                            
The event hosted over 55 designers and over the five days, locations spanned from the castles of Meath and Connerma to historical sites within the heart of Dublin; forming part of the reflection upon ‘Ireland's history with fashion…and its role in the industry for years to come.’  Many of the emerging designers were similarly inspired by Ireland's history alongside the present moment within their collections.
Here are just a few examples of some of the voices shaping Ireland's fashion future and their collections during the week. 

Tarika Kinney

Born and raised in Belfast, Tarika Kinney’s foundation in design has always been rooted in identity, memory, and emotional connection. Her Ireland fashion week look, Aobh, was revealed in the weeks’ Inaugural Irish Sea Showcase alongside other breakthrough designers, Fiona Troy, Niamh Murphy, Sorcha Clodagh, and Peter Ronan. We were able to correspond with Tarika and she expressed that “With an Irish and Indian heritage, storytelling feels instinctive to me, a way to make sense of where I come from. My work explores that dialogue between cultures, using fashion as a way to merge tradition with modernity, and emotion with craft.” A sense of history is central to her pieces, working “exclusively with deadstock fabrics, chosen for their history as much as their texture, [believing] garments should carry meaning…an intimacy is felt knowing something is made slowly and thoughtfully.”

Her Ireland Fashion Week look, Aobh, was inspired by the fisherwives’ tales from Cleggan in Galway, stories that Tarika grew up hearing during summers on the coast. The selkie myth, about transformation and the space between two worlds, felt like a reflection to her of her own cultural duality.
Through deconstructed knitwear, fluid silhouettes, and traditional Indian embroidery techniques, Tarika reimagined that myth from a woman’s perspective, creating a look that expresses the ultimate feminine mystique. 

Sasha Donnellan

Dublin based designer Sasha Donnellan's collections also took some Galway symbols as inspiration, noting that her collection was “dreamt of in Connemara, [and] made in London.” Her debut runway show was on the 8th of October at 1 Windmill Lane, Dublin, a modern venue which kept remnants of its past iconic recording studio through the exposed stone walls.
Donnellan's debut was brimming with buzz and even included guest appearances like singer Tolü Mckay. There was a variety of her fashion styles on display; for example, her Arran knits which transformed the Galway Claddagh symbol from jewellery to a textile design, alongside other design motifs like the little lamb.

Her collections in the show were titled It Was Mine First and Lupus et Agnus (the Wolf and the Lamb) reflecting on how Irish history and the treatment of women throughout history are metaphors for another, and how they both rightfully fought back for what was theirs first.

Her designs encompassed both tough resilience and femininity through playing with different textures. The dresses had hard outer shells - made from wax cotton, wool and nods to a military toughness while the inner shells were made from 100% white silks, designed with graceful lace minings.
A sense of functionality also shone through the use of ribbons which could alter the dresses length, making the piece personal to the wearer.
Sasha Donnellan uses these wide ranging historical influences (from Aesop's fables 

to Heaney's poetry),and sustainable practices and collaborations with charities such as Vision Ireland to ensure that her fashion not only speaks to heritage but also acts with conscience in the modern world.

Jack Shanahan

Jack Shanahan, a fashion designer from Tipperary participated in ‘The Irish Sea’ event in Ireland Fashion Week with his collection titled ‘Saltwater’. Jack calls it a “powerhouse ode to our rich history of migration in Ireland. Inspired by the prompt- The Irish Sea- I wanted to highlight the strength and fearlessness of those who flee their homes in search of better lives, an experience that permeates Irish history, but is also relevant in today's global context”. Jack describes his work as “concept meets utility, but always an edge”, which is evident in his pieces featuring dark and edgy garments that are not just pretty looking, but also could serve a purpose. Jack describes his piece as dramatic and sensual, like an alluring siren of the sea which fits beautifully with the theme of “The Irish Sea”.

However, Jack couldn’t have done it alone. He has collaborated with many Irish creatives to make the photo campaign for this collection. From photographer to nail artist and model, it took Jack a whole team of creatives to make his vision come to life. Jack does not hide his thankfulness for his team “it took a team of creatives to make this happen and I think that that type of supportive collaboration is always worth highlighting”

Other highlights throughout the week were the dazzling opening of Ireland fashion week, with Bold Golf, a brand that gave traditional sportswear a new spotlight, bringing classic golf looks to a more streetwear setting. 

Then, conversely, there was Aoife McNamara’s show which leaned into a sense of romance and maturity, reflecting history through heritage style caps while utilising the most sustainable fabrics.

While, Rashhiidi's show was a breathtaking statement: unapologetically personal, using clothing as both protection and proclamation.

Ireland's fashion industry is bursting to the seams with talent. While we could only zoom in on a few of Ireland's fashion auteurs, we urge you to head over to the Ireland Fashion Week Instagram explore through all of the unique designers who took part. The care and push for community and equality shown throughout the week was a great opportunity to give both industry insiders and the larger public an unforgettable statement of this. Here's to many more and Dublin's place beside Paris and Milan — yes that sounds like a very fashionable triad indeed! 

Written by Ben Lynch (@Ben_Lynch__)

Copy Edited by Ieva Dambrauskaite (@ievadambrauskaite_)