SIXTEEN IRISH fashion designers, members of the recently formed Council of Irish Fashion Designers, yesterday unveiled a small preview of their winter collections in the Loft in the Powerscourt Centre, Dublin, along with a number of forthcoming promotional fashion initiatives.
Eddie Shanahan, chairman and co-founder with designer Eilis Boyle, said the council aimed to be an authoritative voice with State agencies, retailers, the media and other industries. “We are offering a forum for people in the business to explore common problems and opportunities,” he said.
While praising the “leadership and imagination” of the Crafts Council and its efforts to stimulate and promote small businesses with the co-operation of county and city enterprise boards, he was critical of Enterprise Ireland.
“We need real engagement on the export side. We cannot at the moment persuade Enterprise Ireland to link to our website for any information or inquiries coming from other countries.
“This new medium is the way to promote ourselves and is cost effective, but we cannot find any reference to our members on their website. We need that sort of joined-up thinking,” he said.
“Three or four exports could make a real difference to the continued existence of some of our members.”
Those showing items from their winter collections ranged from knitters Lucy Downes, Heather Finn and Edmund McNulty with diverse and sophisticated approaches to yarn, to couturier Jen Kelly with his elaborate handmade silk and velvet ballgowns, award-winning Delphine Grandjouan’s bijou lace dresses and Richard Lewis’s signature jerseys. Newcomer Sinéad Doyle fused corsetry and tweed while Emma Kate Manley brought a modern urbanity to studded leather and jersey ensembles.
Many collections were romantic in spirit, particularly those of Eilis Boyle, Ruth Duignan and Mia O’Connell while others like Heidi Higgins, Caroline Kilkenny and Sophie Rieu focused more on daywear.
For further information see irishfashiondesigners.com