Fashionistas from all over Ireland flock to Galway today for the fifth annual Irish Fashion Innovation Awards which take place in the Radisson Blu Hotel.
Thirty of the country’s top aspiring young designers and students from fashion colleges will showcase their designs in the hope of being one of five category winners, - Student Designer of the Year, Accessory Designer of the Year, Jewellery Designer of the Year, Millinery Designer of the Year, and Fashion Designer of the Year.
Designers competing include Sligo’s Rebecca Marsden, who has recently been awarded the HOMI Maker Design Award in Milan, and Co Clare milliner Margaret O’Connor, whose creations have attracted the attention of stars such as Lady Gaga and Paloma Faith.
Galway-based designers are well represented in the competition with jewellery designer Maria Dorai-Raj and Lynsey de Burca sharing the catwalk.
This year’s judging panel comprises Eddie Shanahan, chairperson at the Council of Irish Fashion Designers, Deirdre McQuillan, Irish Times fashion journalist, and Patricia McCrossan, managing director of Golden Egg Productions.
Student designers represent the country’s top fashion colleges, including National College of Art and Design, Limerick; School of Art and Design, Galway Technical Institute; University of Ulster; Griffith College; and North West Regional College.
GTI students Roisin Ni Loinsigh, Niamh O’Sullivan and Louise Shanahan will be hoping for success on the night with their response to the design brief ‘My Signature Look’.
Fashion designer and former Off the Rails presenter Sonya Lennon will judge the audience style on the night with the winner receiving a weekend break in the award winning Ice House Hotel in Ballina, Co Mayo.
Award winning Natalie B Coleman will display her stunning new collection as the Special Guest Collection Finale to the show. Natalie Coleman has dressed Irish stars such as Kathryn Thomas, Sharon Corr, Charlene McKenna and Laura Whitmore, as well as the amazing Mary J Blige, Lily Cole, Marina and the Diamonds, Suki Waterhouse and many others.
Patricia McCrossan of Golden Egg Productions says the awards give visibility, support and a voice to young design talent throughout Ireland, offering an unrivalled opportunity for their work to be shown to a jury made up of fashion design experts.
“The Golden Egg Irish Fashion Innovation Awards are unique in Ireland and they provide a rite of passage for many of our top designers as they make their way up the rungs of the fashion ladder. I’m looking forward to a wonderful night celebrating the very best of emerging design talent in Ireland, ” she says.
The Golden Egg Irish Fashion Innovation Awards are sponsored by Hogan Motors, Gloss Hair Studio, Lancôme, Hartmann’s of Galway, Brown Thomas, Galway County and City Enterprise Board, Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa Galway and Galway Now magazine.
All proceeds from the raffle on the night will go to NBCRI and Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. Many designers have donated pieces for the raffle to support these worthy causes.
Tickets cost €35, a reserved seat costs €45. Tickets also include a pre-show drink reception with cocktails and canapes from RAW and an after-show party.
For more information telephone 091-384350, log on to www.goldenegg.ie/events/tickets or search ‘Irish Fashion Innovation Awards’ on Facebook.
