Fashion Editor Deirdre McQuillan on the significance of Dublin Fashion Week, an opportunity for international buyers to discover Irish design talent
Irish fashion is on the move. New faces and new directions make these optimistic times for the industry as up-and-coming home-grown talent emerges in the wake of a previous generation who have flourished at home and abroad. Established stars such as John Rocha, Paul Costelloe, Louise Kennedy and Philip Treacy have widened their design portfolio to include glass, jewellery and interiors. Such cross-fertilisation has reaped rewards. Orla Kiely is now Ireland’s best-selling designer internationally.
Their success has inspired and encouraged the fledgling newcomers, while stalwarts of the industry such as Quin & Donnelly who are celebrating more than a quarter of a century in the business, are even now discovering new and lucrative markets abroad. Next week sees the second Dublin Fashion Week taking place, an event that is as much a statement of confidence in the Irish industry as an important gathering place for both buyers and young designers.
Manufacturing may have moved offshore, but not innovative ideas. More and more young Irish people want to study fashion, and there is huge competition for limited college places. Though looms in Irish factories are, with notable exceptions, now hungry, and once industrious sewing machines are silent, creative ideas are flourishing as designers discover the advantages rather than the disadvantages of making abroad. China and India, with their established craft traditions and modern technology, offer creative possibilities for those who seek broader horizons.
Joan Millar is a case in point. In l982 she set up her company making updated Aran-style handknits and keeping around 250 handknitters on the go around the country. As business expanded, she moved into machine knits, and those jobs were lost. But currency changes, 9/11, wars, earthquakes and European integration all took their toll on her profits. Three years ago she went to China with an Irish trade delegation, a visit that changed everything. Now she concentrates solely on designing knitwear collections with her daughter Louise Knatchbull for major UK retailers including Burberry. She has just won a contract, for example, for ¤250,000 from Next.
Others have been able to develop collections in new ways making enticing beaded and embroidered clothes through partnerships in India. And we should be proud of those who, despite the odds, continue to design and make at home, such as Inis Meáin knitwear, for example.
Economic growth and creativity go hand in hand, so creative industries such as fashion are important to a country’s development. In this special fashion issue to mark Dublin Fashion Week, we bring together some of the key movers and shakers in the industry in Ireland, profile some of the exciting new faces in Irish fashion, and highlight one of the season’s hottest trends, white metallics, in our feature called The White Strikes, drawing clothes from the Irish exhibitors in the event. In an increasingly tough and competitive business, dominated by big international brands, Irish fashion may be a small player, but it can still offer something special. And it’s growing.
Dublin Fashion Week is in the Morrison Hotel, Feb 6th-8th (open to trade only)