Alumni Stories - Conor O’Brien
"Studying fashion design at NCAD has an experimental focus at the heart of the course. It encourages students to constantly question their ideas and to reinvent current material. The fashion course at NCAD doesn’t place you in a box nor force you to choose a specific discipline-based approach. It allows you to explore your fashion design practice independently and freely"
Name: Conor O’Brien
Current Career: Designer, Sewing Instructor, Sales Advisor
Graduation Year: 2023
Discipline: BA Fashion Design
Location: Dublin, Ireland
What career path did you want to follow as a child?
From a very young age I knew I always wanted to pursue Fashion Design. I am interested in every element of clothing, from the inception of an image or vision, to the development of the final concept. The entire creative process from a sketch to development of a final product fascinates me. From the minute I saw images of Christian Dior’s 1947 ‘New Look’ collection I knew that I had to have something to do with the pursuit of style.
Why did you decide to study at National College of Art & Design?
I decided to study at NCAD because I was keen to not only get a fashion degree from a place with such a good reputation but I was also determined to begin my journey in fashion within an artistic environment. NCAD has many success stories. Many of my favourite designers studied there, such as Philip Treacy and Simone Rocha. Studying fashion design at NCAD has an experimental focus at the heart of the course. It encourages students to constantly question their ideas and to reinvent current material. The fashion course at NCAD doesn’t place you in a box nor to force you to choose a specific discipline based approach. It allows you to explore your fashion design practice independently and freely.
How did you develop your career towards your current job / practice?
While studying at National College of Art & Design, I began working in retail in a beautiful contemporary womenswear boutique in Rathmines called Beautiful South. I was fully immersed in a customer-facing environment, selling clothing I genuinely loved to people on a very intimate basis. During that work experience the store owner acted as my mentor. They encouraged and supported me to develop my own designs and sell them in their store. This gave me great experience and confidence to continue to pursue my work professionally. As a result, I now have a loyal customer base for my pieces. I also have a network consisting of all sorts of interesting people that work in the fashion industry.
What is the one experience during your time at NCAD that has informed you most in your career / work to date?
Working on my final year fashion collection was the key moment for me at NCAD. It helped me to really focus on how to use all my research and development work to create a cohesive collection. My degree show fashion collection was customer focused and very marketable. I thoroughly enjoyed physically crafting each piece in the collection. I gained great knowledge of textiles through a lot of experimentation with fabric. This was a process of constant trial and error, success and failure. At the degree show exhibition, I enjoyed being given a space to view my work as a fully realised brand, vision and identity.
If you were chatting with current NCAD students today what is the one piece of advice
I would strongly advise current NCAD students to completely immerse themselves in the industry they aspire to go into. Working in a relevant retail space as a designer equipped me with a priceless knowledge of what consumers want and need. This insight drove my decision making and the direction of my work. Recognise that you’re never wasting your time speaking to people from all sorts of disciplines across the design world. You never know when you might get the opportunity to collaborate with people from totally different fields to yours. It is important for fashion designers to be liaising with product designers, photographers, merchandisers, buyers, architects and so on. Engage with contemporary culture, visually and physically.
What in your opinion are the most meaningful opportunities for those pursuing creative careers today?
In my opinion, the most meaningful opportunities for people pursuing creative careers today are often those that come to you early on. For me, engaging in student-led projects such as college magazines, exhibitions and events was key to getting to know people with similar interests to me and gaining my creative momentum. Take the initiative. Understand that if you identify something that possibly hasn’t been done before then you should be the first one to do it. Don’t wait for somebody else!
