Knitwear is the backbone of the current season, and Lainey Keogh's luxurious creations are works of art, with prices to match, writes Deirdre McQuillan
Knitwear is the big fashion story this season, with cardigan coats replacing tailored jackets as essential winter buys. Sweater dresses, worn alone or layered like tunics, make for a softer look, but it's ironic to see designers such as Yohji Yamamoto, D & G, Sonia Rykiel and Louis Vuitton raid traditional Irish cable knits for inspiration while native designers largely ignore them.
An exception is our leading mother of purl, Lainey Keogh, who has created a vibrant, gilt-edged winter collection of luxury and fine embellishment using antique Irish stitches with high-tech yarns and novel embroideries.
There are skirts that look like hammered metal in silver saddle stitch, cobweb creations of old Irish crochet lace in gold yarn, and cashmere cardigans decorated with metallic embroideries. These knits have a romantic, pastoral air. Some of the ideas were prompted by images of 18th-century dress. Muted shades of khaki, bronze and antique gold add to the lustre. "I wanted to do metallic, but in a casual way," says Keogh, speaking in her Dawson Street studio. She's been working with Theresa McAuley, developing these innovative pieces that are already becoming collectors' items in stockists such as Barneys in New York, Browns in London and Brown Thomas in Dublin.
New this season is a range of deep-pile white and grey chevron cashmere coats with a graphic, snowy look, ideal for chilly wintry days in Aspen or St Moritz. There are snug and soignée coats of varying lengths, as well as swing jackets in abstract grey and cream Fair Isle. The look is one of absolute luxury, with prices to match. Defending the cost of handwork is something that Keogh is well accustomed to doing. Customers prepared to pay the prices hold on to their knits for years, she says.
Other shapes she has developed include a length of embroidered red knitted cashmere with sleeves, that can be worn in various ways. Our woollens once made Ireland famous. Keogh continues the tradition, reinventing, reinvigorating and giving modern knitwear an international polish for winter glamour and sophistication.