May 26, 2022 |
“It’s been such an honour,” says Róisín Pierce of her time during this year’s LVMH Prize, where she has made it as one of eight finalists whittled down from a shortlist of 17 international talents. Calling from her childhood home in Dublin, which doubles as her studio, the emerging talent is still on a high from mingling with industry heavyweights throughout the judging process, which took place during Paris Fashion Week in March. “In all the photos you can see I’m just constantly smiling. It was a really special moment for me.”
Her softly spoken Irish lilt pleasantly compliments her namesake label’s sugary sweet design confectionaries. Pierce’s frocks, each fashioned all in white, wouldn’t look amiss in the most delicious wedding cake parlour. Think petal-laden silk drapery, traditional Irish crochet lacing and delicate smocking akin to that of whipped cream frothiness.
The focus of her clothing begins with the that of the fabric itself, informed by Pierce’s training in textile design at National College of Art and Design in Dublin, where she graduated in 2019. Astoundingly, 90 per cent of her designs are made using zero-waste techniques she’s perfected alone through the pandemic. “Zero-waste is not a buzzword for me,” says the designer, “working this way pushes more out of me.”
Her innovative approach to fabric manipulation and textural playfulness within her garments won the 27-year-old the inaugural Chanel Métiers d’Art at 2019’s Festival d’Hyères, as well as spot on this year’s Forbes’ 30 under 30 list.
Part of the Chanel prize granted Pierce the opportunity the collaborate with the Parisian house’s millenary experts. “It was really great to work with these specialists,” says the designer, who was able to create her first fully fledged collection with the assistance of the ateliers.
Her work explores the hardships imposed on Irish women both past and present, touching on the country’s dark history of women’s reproductive rights. The brand’s debut collection Mná i Bhláth (Women in Bloom), came informed by the Magdalene Laundries, state-run labour workhouses powered by the Catholic church where women who were pregnant outside of marriage were forced to work. “The initial collection came from the anger that this had happened to these women. They experienced such extreme oppression.”
Her follow up, Two For Joy, was driven by nostalgia. Sentimental in nature, the designer looked to her own childhood via embroidered satins, gathered squares and dimensional patchwork techniques – inspired by nursery rhymes and her days counting magpies in the fields of Galway.
Like that of her contemporary, Richard Malone, Pierce is indebted to cherishing local craft and amplifying Irish artisans. [Irish craft] is not being preserved. It’s such a shame. I don’t think it’s taken seriously,” says Pierce. “It is a really important story to our heritage. Irish craft was born out of the Famine. There was no money, so someone figured out that by breaking a needle, you could make a crochet hook and mimic Italian lace.” The designer has spent the last few months holding intimate workshops teaching the art of threading Irish lace to young women before it’s lost on a generation. “I’m not just employing older women that are going to die with this craft,” she says. This is a designer representative of a new Ireland.
Photography by Andrew Nuding.
