The Irish Fashion Innovation Awards are one of the top fashion highlights in the Irish Fashion calendar and are often seen as a rite of passage for many an Irish Designer on their path to success. The Awards are actually in their 8th year and each year they manage to out-do the year before. There were over 500 guests in attendance this year! I was invited to the Awards by Galway Now Magazine and I was delighted to attend – this year on Floralesque we have been lucky enough to talk to many of the finalists (you can read about it here) so was excited to see their work up close and personal on the catwalk.
The spectacular show showcases some of Ireland’s best designers and there are several prestigious awards that are presented on the night including Student Designer of the Year, Accessory Designer of the Year, Jewellery Designer of the Year, Millinery Designer of the Year, Fashion Designer of the Year and finally the overall Innovation Award Winner. The Awards were held again this year at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Galway. The hotel is so suited to the Awards with its beautiful, welcoming foyer and stunning ballroom to hold the attendees. You can read about the 2016 Irish Fashion Innovation Awards here. We were warmly welcomed when we arrived and then went into the ballroom reception area to see some of the work of previous Award winners on display.
Speaking to Galway Now about the night, producer Eddie Shanahan said; “This is the show to come to if you want to see real imagination and excitement from some of the best new and established Irish Designers”.
The competition was judged by Chairperson of the Council of Irish Fashion Designers, Eddie Shanahan, Elaine Prendiville from the Sunday Business Post, Designer Rebecca Marsden and MD of Goldenegg Productions Patricia McCrossan who said; “It is an honour to be able to showcase and promote upcoming Irish talent. The level of creativity and innovation that the designers bring each year is astounding and we are proud that the Irish Fashion Innovation Awards gives them the opportunity to showcase their talent to a wide audience”.
Again this year, I do not know how they chose the winners from all the amazing talent on display. The creativity and inspired work that was presented on the night was very impressive. I was also extremely impressed by the work of the students that were showcasing on the night – their work was superb and many pieces looked like the work of established designers – not those still in college!
AND THE WINNERS WERE:
- Student Designer of the Year 2017 – Kate O’Doherty – LSAD
- Accessory Designer of the Year 2017 – Wild Cocoon – Deirdre Duffy
- Jewellery Designer of the Year 2017 – Hannah McGuinness
- Millinery Designer of the Year 2017 – Davina Lynch Millinery
- Fashion Designer of the Year 2017 – Theo & George – Katie O’Riordan
- Overall Innovation Award Winner 2017 – Wild Cocoon – Deirdre Duffy
The Award categories were sponsored by Brown Thomas, Hartmanns of Galway, the Local Enterprise Office, Standún, the Gate Clinic – Smiles Dental and the Radisson Blu Hotel, Galway.
A special mention has to be given to Patricia Mc Crossan and her team at Galway Now and Golden Egg Productions. They know how to put on an outstanding show and properly showcase the talented work of our country’s designers. I have no doubt that months and months of hard work and preparation went into the show, and they should be so proud of the end production as it was thoroughly enjoyable.
It really makes me excited when I see the talent that was showcased on the catwalk. We are lucky to have so much talented both established and emerging designers. I intend to show some more images from the Awards in the coming weeks on the blog as I took so many photos on the night and loved the looks from the catwalk, so today’s post is really just a snippet of what you can expect! There will also be a full post on both the Niamh O’Neill and Rebecca Marsden collections on the catwalk as both blew me away!
Thanks again to Patricia for having me along to the event – I have no doubts that it will be one of my fashion highlights of 2017.
All images taken by me on the Awards Night.
