Get These Irish Designers On Your Radar
Words: Izzy Copestake
Ireland is exploding with talented designers right now, and we want you to know who to have on your radar. We reached out to some of our favourite emerging Irish designers to get an insight into their brands, creative processes and what makes their work stand out in 3 words. Consider this your introduction to the next generation of Irish fashion. Thank us later.
Alex Nugent
Intention and identity are central to everything Alex Nugent is about. The clothes are there to make the wearer feel dangerous and confident. However, before anything else, craft comes first. Over the last year alone, Alex has worked at the Iris van Herpen Haute Couture show in Paris and as a costume maker on the hit Netflix series Wednesday. From the intricate embroidery and textile manipulation to the inner structure of the garments, Alex believes that you can see when a person’s heart and soul has been sewn into a garment, and that is integral to the brand.
“Romantic, melancholic, provocative”
SEST
SEST translates deep personal stories into heavy architectural silhouettes and dark, sculptural aesthetics. The brand was founded to push against the mindset of the “everything is grand”, staying quiet and fitting in which is viscerally familiar to anyone growing up in Ireland. The brand explores the contrast between protection and exposure through heavy leather, tight corsetry, rigid structure and fluid moving fabrics. Rooted in personal history, SEST stands for 6872, the birth years of the designer’s parents, and carries the memory of the people who shaped them into every piece they design.
“Architectural, personal, unapologetic.”
Caólum McCabe
Caólum McCabe’s work explores identity, heritage and the human experience through storytelling. He’s worked with the likes of Vivienne Westwood and S.S. DALEY in London before returning home to reconnect with his Irish identity and heritage.
Inspired by his grandmother Anna, a dressmaker whose former sewing studio now serves as his own, McCabe creates deeply personal collections rooted in craftsmanship and emotion. There’s some huge events on the cards in the future, including an exclusive Dublin event planned for December 2026, a showroom during Copenhagen Fashion Week in August 2027, and a second runway show scheduled for October 2027.
“Melancholic, storytelling, craftsmanship”
Lunasa.irl
This collection of subversive knitwear, textiles, photography and theatrical fashion imagery is the multidisciplinary practice of Dublin-based artist August Parish. Lunasa.irl is all about exaggerated silhouettes, performance and underground aesthetics, paradoxically created using traditional textile techniques. The garments transform the wearer into a character within a world built around each collection. They’ve showcased in Dublin at DIFW and IFW, dressing the likes of Coco Rocha, Lyra, Thalia Heffernan and Lexi Mackeown in their designs.
Currently completing a degree in Textile Art and Artefact at NCAD, Parish recently showcased at Dublin Independent Fashion Week and Ireland Fashion Week’s Damhsa runway, dressing Coco Rocha, Lyra, Thalia Heffernan and Lexi Mackeown in their designs. Moving between concept, garment creation, styling and photography, lunasa.irl approaches fashion as an opportunity to build immersive visual worlds.
“ Subversive, Dramatic and C*nty”
Julia O’Callaghan
Julia O’Callaghan’s practice is rooted in the slow, meditative process of creating textiles and garments by hand. Using time-intensive techniques, each piece becomes an exchange of energy between maker and wearer, and you’ve probably with at least one of the fans of her work: Charli XCX. Each garment celebrates the intimacy of craftsmanship.
“Handmade, intricate, and spiritual.”
