Grafton Academy of Dress Design Presentation

The Grafton Academy of Dress Design in Dublin, is a private fashion college with over 70 years of creativity. Based in the centre of Dublin in a beautiful Georgian townhouse, it has an impressive alumni from the late Neilli Mulcahy and Louise Kennedy to Ireland’s newest contemporary designers Emma Manley & Claire O’ Connor.

We went along to their evening of talent, showcasing works from the current students across the years.

Some of our favorites included work by Marije Boerma. From her attention grabbing swing tags, printed insects on canvas, to her play with texture, and choice of fabrics, I found myself so intrigued with her work.

Coming from another creative point of view, many students embraced the creative freedom of illustrating their own designs. The freedom to express yourself through illustration is beautiful, you can create a prelude, an allure to what the actual garment may deliver – like poetic licence with pen.

Below are images of the Catherine McEvoy’s illustration. Her use of pen & marker look almost digital, so crisp and precise. Her use of of color to accentuate the garments against the monochrome model was clever and powerful.

Another student who’s illustrations I loved were Shauna Harrison’s. Shauna’s style of illustration is feminine, playful and look like plenty of fun! Shauna explained that all her illustrations are done with marker & ink, two classic tools. She also told us that a signature feature in her illustrations is that all the models will never have open eyes – it adds to the mystery of what to expect from illustration to garment.

Below is the illustration to marry with the creation above. This design went down the runway at the DCU Fashion Show this year, of which I was a finalist in 2007.

Amongst all the talent on the night, these 3 ladies stood out to us, remember these names  – you will most definitley be seeing and hearing them again!

 Images courtesy of Classic with Colour