'Nature is at the heart of everything I do': Fashion designer Aoife McNamara

'Think before you buy. Buy locally and ask questions'

Sat, 08 May, 2021 - 08:00

Martha Brennan

I'm a conscious designer. I design through innovation and through my love for nature and that's really at the forefront of everything I do. It's really why I started my brand. I was born in the countryside in Limerick and I've always just had a strong connection to nature. We were always outside in the fields and in the water. My earliest memories are having picnics with my family outside in the backyard and in the fields next to us and I'm obsessed with sea swimming.

I found out the impact that the fashion industry had on the earth while I was in college. I went to Paris and New York and I really thought that all of these companies would be able to help me figure out how we can make change, but I couldn't really find that internationally so that's why I set up Aoife Ireland. I love sharing what nature does for me in my collections. I feel like as a designer I have a job to do and educating myself and others on our impact is a part of that.

This new season we’ve just launched was all based around that - nature and beauty. It's really where I get all of my inspiration. Everything starts with nature for me. Mother earth gives us a full circle yet we don't give it a full circle in return, we just harm it and do so much to hurt it. That message is one thing I really try to push. I try to think about how we can give back; like using innovative materials such as seaweed and working with Irish companies like John Hanly Woollen Mills.

What surprises me is that people still aren't making change when it comes to the environment. People know that they're doing the wrong thing. It's like buying fast food. We know it's not good for us but we do it. We know that what we do to the earth is wrong but we keep on living the way we do. I'd like to be remembered as the designer that pushed innovation and wasn't afraid to speak up about the environmental impacts of the fashion industry.

I think one thing everyone needs to do, myself included, is to educate themselves on conscious consumerism and think about where we're putting our money.

At the end of the day, everyone has a voice with their pocket. If we can shift where we put our money that will shift where all the big industries put their money. The lesson I would like to pass on would be to think before you buy. Buy locally and ask questions.

I've discovered over lockdown that I can't sit still. I just love what I do. I never feel like I'm working. I feel like this is exactly what I was supposed to do. I remember I kept trying to make my mom bring me to a fashion show in LSAD and she took me to one when I was in fourth year in school and I was absolutely mesmerised by the runway. I couldn't believe that someone actually made those garments with their hands. From that moment I knew that was what I wanted to do and I never got sidetracked. I've always loved art and being creative so I think being a fashion designer was always on the cards for me.

There are hard parts. The greatest challenge is probably trying to afford being an ethical and sustainable brand as a start-up. It's not easy. You triple the price of every single thing you do by trying to keep manufacturing in Ireland. You really have to have it at your heart to try to overcome that, but my love for it makes it easy.

My proudest achievement is the Aoife Ireland studio, it's my little innovation hub. I always wanted a little cottage to work in. I was working out of my bedroom last year so for me to have a store and team now and to be able to work in Adare every day, it's amazing.

I think my greatest quality is curiosity. One of my favourite parts of design is material sourcing and making my own materials. If I took a different fork in the road I think I would have gone into architecture. I love interiors and things like that but architecture was really the other thing I thought about doing before I signed my life away to be a fashion designer.

My parents are the people I turn to most, we’re really close. The greatest advice I've ever been given was from my dad. He told me to believe in my own ability. As a creative it's something that's hard when you're starting off. You're always comparing yourself to someone else when you're younger. I was never the top of my class in college, ever. I was actually told not to do fashion design. Believing in your own ability is so important and it's hard but once I started to believe and started doing what I love that's when I started to flourish.