Irish fashion designers are discovering the advantages of collaboration. It’s what brought the Dublin Six – Jennifer Slattery, Ros Duke Knitwear, Freya Oatway of FAO Millinery, Caoimhe Grant of August Night, Gemma O’Leary of Inner Island and Amy Cahill of Oxmantown Skincare – together to create and style autumn-winter looks combining their respective talents in daywear, hats, jewellery, bags and body products.
Their recent show in the restored Dublin’s Civic Trust building, sharing costs of the location, models and make-up, was an exercise in how, in an ever-demanding environment, co-operation and partnership can deliver results.
It all began with Slattery and Duke discussing ways they could do a performance with other designers. Duke and Grant had worked together at John Rocha.
The venue became a showcase “for our vision and shared ethos”, Grant says, “a one-stop shop where customers could buy”. Their catwalk show, Gathered Forms, after a collection specially designed for the occasion by Gemma O’Leary of Inner Island, was accompanied with music by Megan Nic Ruairí from northwest Donegal.
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“We wanted to bring some quietness and reflectiveness to our collections because everything is so fast paced. It’s about community over competitiveness and supporting each other. Every piece had a sculptural element to it inspired by art and nature,” Grant says.
So who is the customer for the Dublin Six? “It’s the person who loves to support Irish design and who takes her time to choose,” Grant says. “She’s not into trends, preferring classic, timeless pieces that are not going to date, but is still interested in fashion. They are all easy pieces that come together well.”
What such collaborations need and deserve is a bigger Irish design shop or location – a rotating space in which everyone has a chance to showcase their work. Such a venue would be a destination for both locals and tourists, creating awareness and visibility of the vibrant Irish fashion scene, which was evident last month at Dublin Independent Fashion Week – notably Ríon Hannora’s Sex Before Marriage bridal collection, Pellador showing womenswear for the first time, Conor O’Brien’s Phantom Thread collection, and Mihai Mar’s knitwear, alongside outstanding collections from Rashiid and the completely self-funded Caolum McCabe show at Henrietta Street.
Both Slattery and Duke have had pop-ups recently in Kildare Village and are planning Christmas events in Slattery’s Smithfield shop in December. augustnight.ie, jenniferslattery.com, faomillinery.com, oxmantownskincare.ie, rosduke.com, innerisland.ie
Ros Duke and August Night are both stocked in Emporium Kalu in Naas, Co Kildare; Jennifer Slattery in Slow Street in Blackrock, Co Dublin; August Night in Khan in Blackrock, Beo Wellness in Lahinch and Ennis, Co Clare; and Ellen B in Clontarf, Dublin; Oxmantown Skincare in Irish Design Shop in Dublin 2 and Project 29 in Stoneybatter, Dublin 7.
Photographer Aoife Louise Walsh; MUA Amanda Ribeiro; models Bláthnaid McKenna, Mary McHale, Perrin Winders, Nikki Bonass and Maria Oxley Boardman
