Many complain we are losing all our talented Irish fashion graduates to emigration, but one designer who returned is Louth woman Niamh O’Neill, who graduated from NCAD five years ago.

Placements after college with Diane Von Fürstenberg in New York and 18 months in Paris with John Galliano and Martin Grant helped clock up experience in structure, tailoring and detail. Working with large and small companies and creative teams “helped in my business because I do everything now”, she says.

For a designer to succeed in the Irish market, it is all about special-occasion wear, she concedes, and her collections are geared to that commercial imperative but with concessions to novel detail. “So it’s not just another dress – I describe my style as elegant and innovative,” says the designer, who was voted 2013 Fashion Designer of the Year at the Fashion Innovation Awards.

O’Neill uses wool crepe from Italy, her own exclusive silk prints and leather, with a working bow her signature motif. She is now stocked in Arnotts, Kilkenny Shop, Serena Boutiques, Emporium Kalu, Isobel, Adar, Olivia Danielle, La Creme, Gorey, Picket Fence, Dunshaughlin, County Boutique and Logans in Antrim. She will show in London in the new year.

This dress from her current collection, photographed by Anita Sadowska, has a printed silk top and wool crepe skirt with bow, €355, worn with a purple orchid headpiece by florist Ann Marie O'Leary from Kerry (annmarieoleary.com) and ring by jeweller Angela O'Keefe (angelaokeefe.com) from Cork. See niamhoneill.com.

Deirdre McQuillan