After my leaving cert in 2000 I went on to study Software Design in
the National College of Ireland. Upon finishing my degree with first
class honours I joined the work force. This was new and exciting but
I needed a creative outlet and signed up to do a part-time course in
pattern cutting. It was then that I fell in love with the art of designing clothes and I haven't looked
back since. I joined the Grafton Academy in 2006 where I am currently
studying fashion design.
My inspiration comes through a love of music and its influence on style over the years, quirky architecture such as Frank Gehry's Guggenheim, infact anything in my everyday life can be inspirational.
I recently appeared on RTE's Nationwide showing how easy it is to
update old and unworn garments into edgy wearable clothes. I also
featured in the Irish examiner were I accepted a challenge to turn a
drab and outdated bridesmaid dress into a contemporary outfit. The
journalist was so impressed by the outcome that she wore the dress to
an upcoming wedding.
Upon finishing this course I hope to work for an established designer,
gain as much experience as I can, and ultimately set up my own label.
If your in Dundrum Shopping Centre, check out House of Fraser's window, they have created a window display with all the finalists design boards. Its really impressive. Here's a photo
The judges have been announced. Super fashion-blogger Susie Bubble, Brendan Mullane, senior menswear designer at Hermes, Louise Kennedy, Zoe Matthews, Head of Womenswear, House of Fraser and Godfrey Deeny, European Ed of Fashion Wire Daily. I am very excited to meet these talented people!!!
The photoshoot went well today! we didnt get our phones yet :-( but i got a sneak preview of them and they look great. Today Nokia also launched the show at dundrum shopping centre, heres a link to a video of it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XeIbYI5I0I check it out its very cool
Having a photoshoot tomorrow in elevate, headshots and a group photo. have no idea what i am going to wear, aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh. its gonna be a late night. Going to get our supernova handset tomorrow, cant wait, it couldnt come at a better time as my phone is on its last leg!
Just heard some exciting news, the off the rails team are going to be involved in the fashion show, Brendan Courtney will be presenting it and Sonya Lennon will be producing the show, I CAN'T WAIT !!!!!! so so so so excited!!!
Just back from the photo shoot, it went really well, cant wait to see the photos! I took a short video so i will post it soon. A big thanks to Karen and Cathy for all the help!
I am at the final stages of making my dress and its come together so well, i am really happy with it :-) Just need to finish off a few bits and pieces and then I'm done. I am going to do a photo shoot tomorrow of the dress for my portfolio! so i have been rummaging for accessories, i found some quirky shoes in penny's for 5e, bargain! Just need to get some bangles etc. Ill post some photos soon!!
The dress has wire in it which allows you to change and customise the dress, here are some photos of mock-ups that i did when i was experimenting with the wire.
I keep pricking my fingers with pins ooooooooowww, its all part of the hard work, as you can tell I am sewing up the dress at the moment, its going well, except for my poor little fingers ;-) I have run into a few problems along the way but nothing too big to be fixed. The wire has been soldered together, courtesy of my dad! That is next to be put into my dress. I will post new photos soon!!!
I received an email from our mentor Tim Ryan with some great advice on finishing the garment etc which has been very helpful. You can also see an interview with him about the NYFDA by following this link: http://www.rte.ie/fashion/2009/0113/ryant.html and for those of you who may not know him, you can check out some of his fabulous design at http://www.rte.ie/fashion/2009/0114/ryant.html
Monday, January 12, 2009
The fabric has been cut, there's no going back now! i have started to sew the dress and its coming together really well, really looking forward to seeing it all finished.
Hooray! I have finished the pattern construction of the dress. I have added a photo of it below, you probably wont be able to make head nor tail of it, but you can get the general idea of how the dress will go from paper to 3-d.
The photo below shows a mock version of the bottom half of the dress, just to give you an idea of what the finished dress will look like! I will be adding more photos over the next few days, so keep checking back!