Helen Steele: The Dunnes Stores collaboration has completely changed the way I work

The designer talks about a typical Saturday in her life

Helen Steele: "The team I work with in Dunnes are phenomenal and I couldn’t do what I do without them."

08.00

I wake around 8am and do a few yoga stretches, take a shower and go downstairs to feed the cats. 

We got them from the ISPCA in 2016 – someone had dumped them by the side of the road as kittens. 

It was so awful but thankfully they’d only been in the shelter a few days when we saw them. 

They’re so clever, they’re part of the family and we absolutely love them.

I’ll have a disgusting starter of sea moss tonic – it has Lion’s Mane in it which is apparently great for focus and memory. 

I’ll then go and ruin it all by having coffee and chocolate. 

Ten years ago I decided that I wasn’t going to restrict things or deny myself anything and decided to start my day with something that makes me happy. 

If I’m on healthy mode I’ll have a protein chocolate spread, if I’m being unhealthy it’ll be Nutella and if I’m really spoiling myself it’ll be some Butlers chocolate which I adore.

10.00

I’ll head out to the studio next to my house – I try to paint every day. 

A lot of the time I paint on roll-down canvas as well as on framed canvas. 

The paintings on the roll-down canvas can then become pieces of wall art or can be used to inspire the prints that appear on my own range of clothing and on the range at Dunnes Stores. 

On Saturdays I’m usually painting art works only rather than designing. 

I’ll listen to a podcast – maybe SpyCast, The Business of Fashion, My Therapist Ghosted Me or Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud.

If it’s order and manufacturing time for my own label I will be in my seamstress’s studio every second Saturday. 

The same incredibly talented woman – Cora, owner of The Seamstress by Cora – has been making my garments since 2016. 

We work together on the pattern cutting and the print placement and she makes up all the garments for my collection with her team in Dublin.

14.00

I will stay in the studio until about 2pm and then I’ll take a break and have lunch with my kids. 

I’ll make something like an acai bowl or maybe poached eggs on toast with avocado. 

I’ll have another coffee as well as a juice or a protein shake. 

We don’t generally go out unless it’s a special occasion like a birthday – then we’ll go to Ladurée for brunch.

15.00

Helen Steele's new collection for Dunnes Stores is out now.

I love to go for a walk with friends or family on Saturday afternoon.

We might walk to the Poolbeg Lighthouse or I’ll go for a walk in the Phoenix Park with my brother Ted – he lives pretty close to the Zoo and can hear the lions roar each evening when they’re having their dinner – I love that. 

I have a couple of friends that I walk with during the week too – it’s my equivalent of going clubbing these days and it’s free and healthy. 

We get to chat about everything – it’s like therapy. In the summer myself and my mum might go for a walk on Sandymount Strand.

I’m usually a go-with-the-flow type of person but I like to have something planned for Saturdays because life is so busy.

I work Monday to Friday on my collections for Dunnes Stores. We’ve gone from six collections a year to 12. 

The collaboration has completely changed the way I work and has been an incredible experience so far. 

The team I work with in Dunnes are phenomenal and I couldn’t do what I do without them. 

They totally get the vision and it really is a team effort. 

My work time is divided between home and the Dunnes HQ – you need to be able to see things like fabrics and prints in person to perfect the product.

18.00

Myself and the kids usually get a Deliveroo as a treat. My daughters are vegetarians, and myself and my son are not, so sometimes a takeaway is a handy option. 

It could be Chinese or Japanese food or something like Wowburger or pizza depending on what people are in the mood for.

19.00

Myself and my mother might go to the cinema in Rathmines or to The Lighthouse. 

We might go to a play in the Gate, Gaiety or Abbey.

21.00

Except for the odd blow out, I try to keep my sleep cycle pretty consistent. 

Sometimes I’ll have to get up at 3am to catch a flight for work and it takes ages to get my sleep pattern back in check – sleep is really important to me.

If I’m being really boring I’ll go upstairs at around 9pm, have a bath with epsom salts while watching some rubbish on my iPad and aim to be in bed by 10pm. 

I’ll read for an hour or so, turn on a meditation app and then try to sleep from 11pm. If I don’t sleep well I’ll go for a run the next morning and a hike in the afternoon to try to ensure I sleep better the following night.

• Helen Steele is an award winning Irish fashion designer based in Monaghan. Her latest collection with Dunnes Stores, ‘Into The Wild’, is out now. 
• See helensteele.com