Belfast-based artist Joanna Karolini was tired of getting her jeans soaked while cycling in her rainy adopted city. Traditional rain trousers didn't do it for her – too clumsy, too awkward, too sweaty. So – inspired by the grandmother's voluminous skirts in Gunter Grass's novel The Tin Drum, beneath which ships, foreign countries, angels and demons lurk – Karolini came up with the smart, practical and stylish idea of the "rain skirt".
You just whip it on over whatever you’re wearing and you’re instantly shower-proofed. Each hand-made skirt is individual and adjustable, and they come in all kinds of colours and patterns, from bold dots to silver and blue. With impeccable eco-credentials, Karolini makes her skirts, hats and bags from discarded tents, which she sources from music festivals. Tent fabric makes the perfect material – light, colourful and water-resistant. As Karolini herself says, “you may be wearing a tent – but you won’t look like one”. Find her and her brilliant skirts every Saturday at St George’s Market in Belfast, or go to www.therainskirt.com.