Every six months, Somerset House undergoes a transformation. This neoclassical building, smack-bang on the Thames, has a central square that has been covered with a gargantuan tent, its exhibition spaces given over to rails and rails of clothing and temporary press lounges. London Fashion Week is about to begin, and Somerset House, with its perilous cobbles, is its permanent home.
London is the second of four fashion weeks around the globe. New York’s is currently wrapping up, and tomorrow countless editors, stylists, bloggers and buyers will be hopping the red eye from JFK to Heathrow for another week of shows, presentations and parties. While London’s might not be the most prominent event in the calendar, it has become a hub for international designers, a good chunk of whom are Irish.
Perhaps the best-regarded Irish designer is one of the newest. Simone Rocha, daughter of John, graduated from the prestigious MA in fashion at Central Saint Martins in 2010, the same year she started showing at London Fashion Week. Her career trajectory is less like a rocket and more like a guided missile; she has an inbuilt GPS when it comes to the crossroads between luxury and mass appeal. In February, she manifested her strong, feminine aesthetic in dusky pink suiting and chintzy, wallpaper-like floral dresses. This season looks set to be a continuation of the theme.
Paul Costelloe is a stalwart of the scene. For the first time in years, he will be holding a presentation instead of a show. What that represents for the Costelloe brand we can't tell, but if last season's more directional, ever-so-slightly edgier designs are to be taken into account, it seems that Costelloe still has a few more tricks up his immaculate sleeve.
That Anderson magic
JW Anderson is from Magherafelt, Co Derry. The lore goes that he was discovered by Miuccia Prada’s right-hand woman, Manuela Pavesi while he was working in the men’s department of Brown Thomas on Grafton Street in Dublin. Anderson has an uncanny ability to make the terminally unfashionable fashionable: it was floppy-brimmed hats last season; before that, it was corduroy, paisley and Birkenstocks. One can only speculate what former abomination he will magically make covetable this season.
Also presenting is Orla Kiely, whose collections are variations on a 1960s-infused theme. From Mad Men and Swinging London to hippy flower children, the Orla Kiely aesthetic promises another collection reminiscent of the Summer of Love, even if it's freezing outside.
Danielle Romeril looks set to dazzle again with her high-tech, eye-catching fabrics. Snagging a presentation slot thanks to Topshop's NewGen funding, Romeril's collections are quintessential Irish Cool Girl: tomboyish but sexy and composed.
Two of the three designers who make up knitwear label Sibling are of Irish extraction, which is very evident in their work. Expect an off-kilter take on crochet and knobbly Aran knits for their latest collection.
Golden ticket
While the main event is closed to those unarmed with a golden ticket, the British Fashion Council has opened an external International Fashion Showcase, which is free and open to the public. The Irish arm of this, Into the Fold, features eight designers chosen by author and fashion curator Gemma Williams. It is organised in partnership with Irish Design 2015 and Kildare Village and is held near the main event, at the Brewer Street car park in Soho.
Among the eight is Rory Parnell Mooney, a menswear designer whose thoughtful use of fabrics and meticulous construction is reminiscent of ecclesiastical shapes. The Galwegian, who graduated with an MA in fashion this year, looks set to be a leading light in menswear.
Other highlights will include Caoimhe MacNeice’s origami-like womenswear; Michael Stewart’s paganistic garments in white and mossy green; Oliver Doherty Duncan’s crocheted, woven armour of breast plates and belts; and Jocelyn Murray Boyne’s oversized, knockout-red jackets and skirts in semi-sheer fabrics.
While each Irish designer’s output is very different, they are all unified by an abiding respect for craftsmanship. It seems that the old Irish ways of production die hard, with most brands emphasising well-made clothes, whether that means reviving old weaving methods or creating textiles with technology that would make our wool-gathering ancestors’ heads spin.
