Ruth Kent
Ruth Kent’s first introduction to design as a teenager was an exhibition called Global Irish Design Challenge in the National Craft Gallery in her native Kilkenny during transition year. It sparked the idea of a career in design, “which I had never thought of as an option”, she recalls. For two years she worked on putting together a portfolio. At 19 she won a place on the foundation course in Central St Martins in London, where she was introduced to fashion and textiles, graduating with a BA specialising in woven textiles, the course taught by the Irish designer Denis Lawlor.
She is now part of the King’s Foundation Designer/Maker Residency for emerging graduates with outstanding creative aptitude and is based in a studio space in the Docklands in east London. She is also part of the graduate talent programme at Fashion Crossover London, a designer platform, and has interned with Paul Smith. “I met Paul when I was 20 and spent some time in his studio. He has been super generous with his time – a big inspiration and support for me.”
In January she launched her debut photobook, For All the Joy to Come, accompanied by an exhibition of her textile work at the Photobook Café in Shoreditch. She plans to release her first collection of silk scarves later this spring.
She describes her approach as focusing on “fun, play, subversion and joy”. Her work is colourful, graphic and distinctive. “I have always been inspired by graphic design and scale, and I like playing around with big shapes,” she says. She plans to produce about half a dozen designs, “keeping it small, commercial but recognisably me”. In the meantime she is doing a lot of freelance and consultancy work and spent three weeks at McQueen womenswear with creative director Sean McGirr, a Dubliner. “At the moment it makes sense to be in London – all my connections are here, but at some stage I would like to come home”. ruthkent.com
Caolum McCabe
Caolum McCabe describes himself as the first Newry-born designer to venture into fashion. Funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the National Lottery has put him in a position to launch his first womenswear collection shortly, invest in his design work and expand his studio equipment. “As a working-class creative, any form of recognition or help is greatly appreciated,” he says, adding that he was advised in his funding application not to describe himself as a fashion designer, but as a “textile creative”.
McCabe is a gifted artist who initially pursued an art foundation course before deciding to study fashion. He graduated from Arts University Bournemouth, “a very small university where I felt my skills and ideas could be nurtured. I had amazing tutors – one had worked with Alexander McQueen and another a pattern cutter who had worked with John Galliano – two designers idolised by everyone in the industry”. A love of fashion was inherited from his grandmother, who was a dressmaker, and he now operates from her old sewing studio.
After graduating in 2020, he worked with Vivienne Westwood and for a year as a pattern cutter with the young designer S S Daley, (recipient of the LVMH prize) “and it was one of the best experiences, being with like-minded individuals, but there was something I couldn’t warm to in London where everyone was out for themselves and there was no sense of community. And it was disheartening to see my work go out [under] other people’s names, so I decided to move home.”
That move home strengthened a resolve to connect with his heritage and history, promote Irish fabrics and “plant my label in Irish soil. I want to stay in Ireland and should not have to relocate to pursue a successful career. I am very adamant about using Irish textiles having garnered the tools of the trade in England,” he says. To help with the cost of buying fabrics, he works full time in healthcare services in Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry and in his studio is assisted by stylist Aoife McGuigan, which frees him up to sew.
His collection will consist of more than a dozen outfits, one of which, a floor-sweeping dress in chiffon, was inspired by a visit to St Jude’s Shrine in Co Louth. It is covered in digital print with images of the Virgin Mary: “the idea was to make it look like stone or marble”. He has already collaborated with the painter Shauna Fox on a painterly top depicting a man celebrating St Patrick’s Day and made a special piece for the photographer Donal Talbot for the opening of his exhibition in Denmark – a twisted top in satin.
“I would say that I am a very emotional and conceptual designer – there is a lot of me in these clothes. It is not enough for me just to make a dress. The colour must mean something. Art has always been a safety blanket for me, and clothing can resonate with people. With McQueen you always felt that it was more than just a shirt hanging on a rail. We have lost that magic essence that fashion can create – I want more magic in fashion.”
Paul Scally
Paul Scally, from Shankill, Co Dublin, was heading home on the Dart when it pulled into Pearse Street “and a lady walked up to me and said ‘you could be a model’ and gave me her card”, he says. That was Chloe Greenaway of Notanotherintl modelling agency, who has since become his agent. “I had done a little drama at school so I decided to give it a shot,” says the 20-year-old. “Up to then I was doing trainee film work as a camera grip, 10 hours a day and a lot of hard work.” He signed up with the agency in December 2023 and within weeks had made his debut on the Rains campaign for the Danish company’s Dublin opening.
His big break was walking for Valentino in Paris at Alessandro Michele’s first show for the storied Italian house – the autumn-winter 2025 co-ed show in Paris. “I had done rounds of casting where they look at how you walk, trying on the clothes to see how they fit, and learned late on the Friday that I had been confirmed for the show. Michele has a specific look that is colourful and chic and it was so much fun.”
He is now signed up in Milan and Paris; his Dublin agents say that his look is unique and special, “and his red hair resonates with the bigger fashion houses, who are recognising the fashion talent in Ireland”.
So far Scally is enjoying all that his modelling career has brought him. “You get to meet so many talented people and travel,” he says.
He is speaking from Milan before travelling to Rome to do lookbook photos. “I leave for Paris after that and then am heading back here, so I am all over the place. I couldn’t be happier.”
