Young Irish Designers Showcase the Future of the Fashion Industry at NCAD Show
Annual Fashion Show takes place during Irish Design 2015, celebrating Irish design and designers
The spotlight was firmly on the future of Irish fashion with a clear presence of emerging creative talent at this year’s Annual National College of Art and Design (NCAD) Fashion Show, which took place today in the Grafton Suite at The Westbury, during the Year of Irish Design. This year, the event is supported by The Doyle Collection and Brown Thomas, who are offering a bursary and mentorship to one student, chosen by Brown Thomas Fashion Director, Shelly Corkery as the ‘Designer to Watch’.
Commenting at the event, Angela O’Kelly, Head of Design for Body and Environment at NCAD, said: “NCAD continues to produce great creative talent, which is evident from our Annual Fashion Show today. The Fashion Show aims to showcase the creativity, innovation and skill that our Fashion Design graduates have acquired and developed during their time in NCAD. The show is a culmination of their years of hard work and acts as a springboard for launching their careers. As well as designing in-house for major international designers, NCAD graduates work globally at all levels of the industry.
“The graduating class of 2015 has undertaken internships in companies and studios as diverse as Philip Treacy, Pringle and the Royal Ballet London. NCAD’s links with industry continue to grow, including our annual graduate internship programme with Dunnes Stores, which is a 12 month paid design internship. In addition, there is the River Island bursary which includes €3,500 and a paid three month internship in their design studio in London, and this year we are delighted to announce the new Brown Thomas bursary.”
“NCAD’s Annual Fashion Show continues to be one of Ireland’s leading fashion events and a true cultural highlight. As Ireland’s leading provider of art and design education, NCAD is renowned for producing highly successful designers, with fashion alumni including Orla Kiely, Simone Rocha, and Alan Taylor. As we celebrate Irish Design 2015, the class of 2015 are set to continue NCAD’s long tradition of placing Irish fashion design firmly on the map – the future is bright.”
This year the event is supported by Brown Thomas, offering a bursary and mentorship to one student, chosen by Brown Thomas Fashion Director Shelly Corkery as the ‘Designer to Watch’. This year’s winner was Daniel Roden who was chosen for the collection ‘Green; an exploration of tonality and texture’. The prize consists of a €4,000 bursary, an installation of designs in ‘Create’ at Brown Thomas in July 2015 and also a mentoring programme with the management team.
Brown Thomas Fashion Director Shelly Corkery commented, “We are very excited to work with the NCAD graduates to support emerging Irish talent and offer a platform of mentoring and career advice within the fashion industry. This year we are celebrating the fifth year of Create which has been a launchpad for many Irish designers and this will provide a great opportunity for the NCAD Graduate ‘Designer to Watch’ to showcase their talent”.
Pat King CEO of The Doyle Collection commented, “As the proud corporate sponsors of ID2015, a year that celebrates the diversity and world-class appeal of homegrown designs, we take great pleasure in providing the ideal city centre catwalk in The Grafton Suite at The Westbury Hotel to the fashion graduates of NCAD. Today’s showcase plays a vital role in the future careers of our emerging young Irish Fashion designers, giving them the opportunity to gain recognition from the Fashion industry”.
Fifteen graduating designers showcased their work at the annual NCAD Fashion Show, each showing six pieces from their graduate collections. Highlights included the work of:
• Alice Langton, who was recently awarded UCD’s Young Designer of the Year 2015, and 3rd place in the DIT Vodafone Fashion Show 2015. Alice’s collection is entitled, “Craft; ‘an activity involving skill in making things by hand’” and uses materials including Woven Reeds, Cotton and Silk blend, Tulle, Mohair and Wool (Foxford). Alice undertook an internship with Antipodium in 2014.
• Jessica Bagnall, who was awarded Finalist at the Golden Egg Fashion Innovation Awards 2015. Jessica’s collection is entitled ‘Point and Line to Plane’ and uses materials including silk satin, silk twill, linen canvas and mercerized cotton yarn. Jessica undertook an internship in summer 2014 with Richard Nicoll, a London based fashion designer best known for his work on modernist classics with day-to-night versatility.
• Daniel Roden’s collection is entitled “Green: an exploration of tonality and texture”, using materials including silk, feathers, wool and cashmere. Daniel’s project is inspired by the superstations surrounding the use of the colour green within haute couture. He explored tonality and texture, driven by the discourse between architecture and nature. The form and structure of the collection was inspired by the illustration of Marc Davis for Walt Disney leading the exploration of fitted and oversized forms. Daniel undertook an internship with Philip Treacy, one of the world’s foremost milliners and Irish designer based in London.
• Lorraine Ho’s collection is entitled “Woven Identity” and is inspired by the works of artist Louise Bourgeois, in particular her hand paintings and sculptures that explore themes of gender ambiguity and childhood. Lorraine began her design process by deconstructing garments that had personal meaning for her. This approach allowed Lorraine to explore her own childhood memories and identity, while also providing her with a method for generating new garment shapes that conceal and distort the body and alter perceptions of body shape and proportion. Materials used include: Wool, Cotton, Knitted Copper Wire, Leather, Jersey crepe, Tapestry. Lorraine undertook an internship with Pringle, the luxury knitwear manufacturer and importer, and iconic Scottish brand.
The event took the form of a salon show and in addition to the fifteen graduating student’s collections, the mini-degree collections of twelve third-year Fashion Design students was included in the show.
The Annual NCAD Fashion Show is one aspect of NCAD’s Season of Exhibitions, which will run from May until July. The NCAD Fashion Show 2015 is kindly sponsored by Brown Thomas and The Doyle Collection, proud corporate sponsors of ID2015, in the year of Irish Design. In-kind sponsorship was provided by Toni & Guy and Makeup Forever.
Brown Thomas has also selected NCAD graduating students Jessica Bagnall and Adam Henderson to showcase their work as part of ‘Create’ in store in July 2015.
Further information about NCAD’s BA (Hons) Degree in Fashion Design is available at: https://www.ncad.ie/undergraduate/school-of-design/fashion-design/.
ENDS
Contact: Sarah Harte / Emily Brennan, DHR Communications, Tel: 01-4200580 / 087-9858259 / 086-1658629
