The Fabric of Us will feature six Irish women designers from different walks of life
A new fashion show inspired by a single mother will celebrate the role of women in Irish fashion this weekend.
‘The Fabric of Us’ will return for a second year at Dublin Independent Fashion Week at the Linen Yard in Harold’s Cross.
It will feature six women from around Ireland who will have their designs and the stories behind them displayed over a three-hour show.
This year the show is inspired by a single mum, said Goodness Mphelo, co-founder of WabiSabi Collections and co-creator of the show.
“This year, I remembered my mum’s journey – she was self-employed and raised us on her own,” said Mr Mphelo.
“She is the reason why I grew interested in fashion. She made a lot of my clothes when we were growing up and showed me how you could be unique even when we had very little.”
Set up by Mr Mphelo and Sylvia Ferrari, WabiSabi is a social media platform that documents street fashion in Dublin.
“The fashion scene in Ireland is heavily inspired by women – so our show documents those Irish designers from different walks of life,” Mr Mphelo said.
“It’s creativity that is born from the women’s stories and the resources they already have. Women can be so resourceful in how they can create the most beautiful things with very little.
“We found designs from new fashion grads, emerging designers and from across the Irish fashion scene. We found some really unique stories.”
With The Fabric of Us, the team hope to take the “hard” parts of fashion away from the designers.
“In the showcase, we wanted to take away the admin part so the designers can focus on the clothes,” said Mr Mphelo.
“They can focus on the designing while we take care of all the things that aren’t as sexy – like finding a venue, sorting musicians, the financial costs and the need to break even.”
The show will be an interactive one where designers, the audience and artists can speak about what fashion means to them.
Featured artists will include Dublin-based Holly Morrissey, whose designs are inspired by her relationship with her father.
“Holly’s work is a homage to healing a father-daughter relationship,” Mr Mphelo said.
“Her design and the way the clothes are textured is inspired by natural things like mushrooms but they reflect the healing of her relationship with her dad.
“He wasn’t always present for her growing up, but that changed when he invited her and her sister to forage and go out into nature.”
Another Dubliner Cornelia McNamara, who started the fashion line Cú Mara, is another featured designer.
“Her clothes are striking – they recreate the Irish landscape and its silhouettes in a delicate, intimate way,” Mr Mphelo said.
“She’s autistic and has spoken about how being on the spectrum has contributed to her work.”
Mr Mphelo, who grew up in South Africa, said he was inspired by his own childhood.
“We didn’t grow up with a lot of money, I didn’t know anything about sustainable fashion or thrifting. We bought second hand because we couldn’t afford anything else,” he said.
“I used to hate it then and I used to hate how my mum would make clothes for us. Although I just wanted to fit in, she wanted me to stand out wherever I went.
“She would sew big bowties and sew little flowers or new buttons into everything we bought. That always stayed with me. And now, it’s inspired this show.”
Dublin Independent Fashion Week will run from September 10 to 16.