WITH 2015 being Ireland’s Year of Design, there has already been more of an international focus on the island’s innovation in the creative industries.
According to the British Fashion Council, the fashion industry in Britain is worth around £26billion annually with Irish designers such as Orla Kiely, Philip Treacy, Louise Kennedy and John Rocha, as well as up and coming talent including Simone Rocha and JW Anderson, leading the way.
The British fashion industry also supports almost 800,000 jobs, and boosted by a growing tech sector it’s expected that over £19billion will be spent on fashion by shoppers online alone by 2019.
Next week's annual Arthur Cox Irish Fashion Showcase in London, hopes to shine the style spotlight further on creative Irish entreprenuers and their potential to contribute to the British, Irish and international markets.
We meet three of the designers taking part...
Susannagh Grogan - Accessories designer
Never let the naysayers win
Susannagh Grogan Picture: Peter RowenSusannagh Grogan has seen her luxury printed silk scarves become a firm favourite on the international style scene in the last six years.
Launching her label in 2009, the 40-year-old designer admits she wishes she’d had the courage to follow her design dreams sooner.
“I wish I’d had more confidence much earlier on in my life,” she says. “Victoria Beckham is just smashing it at the moment. She followed her dream and didn’t let the naysayers affect her.”
Don't be afraid to find your inspiration away from home
Originally from Wexford, but now based in Dun Laoghaire, Susannagh lived in London for many years, studying at Wimbledon College of Art and Chelsea College of Art before later moving to New York.
“There I designed for a diversity of clients including Macy’s, Tommy Hilfiger, Estee Lauder, Victoria’s Secret, Velvet and Liz Claibourne,” she says.
“I then returned to London and onto CapeTown, continuing to freelance for the leading design studios in London and New York where my print designs sold throughout the UK, Europe, America and Japan.”
Follow your dreams
Creating her scarves is a world away from the designer’s very first job while still an art college student.
“It was a Saturday job, answering the reader’s claims for the Sun Bingo competitions. It was one of the first call centres looking back. There were three of us, we had a great laugh and it paid really well,” she adds, despite always having designs on a more creative career.
And it’s the last year that has been her most successful to date. “I designed and delivered my own scarf label, I developed my printed leather range and was commissioned by Aer Lingus to sell scarves especially for their customers on board,” she says. “It was a very good year.”
There’s also been a recent commission with clothing and accessories brand Anthropology in Britain and the US, where her scarf was a number one bestseller.
Multi-tasking? Set aside specific days for specific tasks
Now combining fashion with family life, she‘s producing two collections a year, from silks scarves to luxury leathers.
“I try to fit my work around my son, Gabriel who’s nine,” Susannagh says. “But as anyone with their own business knows often it overlaps. I try to allocate different days to different priorities. I produce two collections a year, which entails planning, designing, sampling, selling, trade fairs, marketing, working out orders with suppliers and then delivering.”
Martha Lynn - Milliner
You don't always need a definite plan
Martha Lynn Picture: Paul SharpMartha Lynn from Roscommon, a member of the Council of Irish Fashion Designers, channels the style of Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn when it comes to producing her designs at Martha Lynn Millinery.
Based in Dublin, and following a brief spell working as an arts officer in Roscommon County Council, she is now designing full time. “Growing up I don’t think I had a definite plan but I always know I wanted to be creating something,” the 32-year-old says.
Less is more
Having recently showed her A/W 2015 collection at the Designer Rooms in Somerset House as part of London Fashion Week 2015, she’s an advocate of the “less is more” ethos.
“I’m a big fan of Victoria Beckham’s label, simple and structured. And I love Olivia Palermos personal style,” she says.
Find a balance in life that works for you
Often working late into the evening, spending time with her clients to create the perfect hat is what she loves best.
“I find it’s always hard to get the right balance between the design and business elements of the business,” she admits. “The design comes more naturally to me.”
And so it’s unsurprising that this Irish designer, winner of a Kerry Fashion Week Award last year, has studied under renowned milliner Aileen Keogan at the Grafton Academy in Dublin.
She has also spent time in London doing an internship with both Philip Treacy and Stephen Jones, working on hats for both Valentino and Galliano shows.
Melissa Curry - Jewellery designer
Life begins at 40
Melissa CurryJewellery designer Melissa Curry, is the founder and director of The Melissa Curry Group.
Based in Dublin, the 44-year-old is a familiar name in many of Britain’s exclusive stores, selling in Liberty (her designs featured on billboards across the globe celebrating the company’s Millenium campaign) and Cavells.
She is also in talks with Richard Branson’s Virgin Airways about a potential partnership on his global flight network.
“La vie commence a 40 ans, life begins at forty, I guess this applies to me right now,” she jokes. “I do believe it’s true! I know what makes me tick, both in heart and in mind. I have a better appreciation of who I am.”
Broaden your horizons
Leaving Ireland after completing her Leaving Certificate aged 17 to study at the Sorbonne in France, Melissa spend her early years travelling as much as she could and “living the Parisian Bohemia”.
“Paris became my home for almost 14 years,” she says. “I styled regularly as an assistant to a very inspiring fashion photographer Massimo Capodieci at weekends. “
But following an extended trip to India, Banlgadesh and Nepal, where her father was living, she decided it was time to set up her own label, which launched at Paris Fashion Week in 1998.
“Little did I know it would take off,” she says. “But by 2002 we were surviving and busy supplying over 30 stores worldwide including Le Bon Marche, Liberty, Barneys...”
Find a project you really believe in
Returning to Ireland with her son Kito in 2004 the designer’s day now revolves around 6am starts, a daily walk on Sandymount beach with her dog Belle, and focusing on her latest collection – the #beyourownsuccess range.
With her Success range decorating the jewellery boxes of some of the world’s most influential women – talk show icon Oprah Winfrey, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, actress Saoirse Ronan, and First Lady Michelle Obama – the collection is about women sharing what success means to them.
“It has been very moving to hear the different stories,” Melissa says. “It is my most personal piece of work which evolved from my own path and journey in life, it has great meaning and more soul. It is the story of all women, wrapped up in a gold bar.”
Her aim for the next 12 months is to see her Success campaign succeed even further.
“Over 1,700 women have been gifted success and that is without any official campaign or social media,” she says. “I hope to get funding soon because I simply cannot sustain the pre-start up on my own.”
Girl power - a woman's income is a passport to opportunity
A regular in Britain’s glossy magazines, Melissa has recently work with the Kisany project in East Africa, which provides creative and artisan training and work to more than a thousand women.
She adds: “It has been proven by female leaders I think Ireland has the most incredible source of artists, designers, creatives who have a wealth of imagination, determination, and personality around the world that if women are doing well and succeed, their countries, their children, their homes will succeed and benefit on enormous levels personally and professionally. I have also learnt that a woman’s income is her passport to opportunity, security and freedom.”
Be proud to be Irish
A success story of her own, Melissa is also quick to note the many others she respects in the industry.
“I admire different people for different things,” she says. “Simone Rocha for her youth, confidence and freshness.
"I love Tim Ryan for his brilliance and artistry, and Philip Treacey for being such an inspiration to us all. “I think Ireland has the most incredible source of artists, designers, creatives who have a wealth of imagination, determination, and personality.”
The Arthur Cox Irish Fashion Showcase takes place on May 13 at The Mall Galleries, London from 7pm. Designers on the night will include Sean Byrne, Zoe Carol, Melissa Curry, Jen Kelly, Róisín Linnane, Martha Lynn, Polly McGettigan, Niamh O’Neill, Susannagh Grogan and Helen Steele.
