Watch Back - Grown, Gathered, Made: Rethinking Irish Materials  

Join us at Showcase Ireland 2026, at the RDS in Dublin on Monday 19th January 2026 at 3pm for an engaging panel talk that places natural material innovation at the heart of contemporary Irish design. In collaboration with the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland, this year’s Showcase Ireland theme is ‘Making Irish Stories’.

In this conversation, three emerging Irish designers will share how they work with local and natural materials to create sustainable, culturally rooted products that connect with consumers.

Panel:

• Aoife McNamara; the first Irish B Corp fashion brand. Her recently launched collection, ‘What The World Wears’ celebrates Irish grown wool while emphasising traceability and sustainability. Avoiding textile waste is central to her design process and she works closely with Irish suppliers with care and intention.
   
• Conor O’Brien, whose luxury Irish grown wool knitwear brand puts a twist on traditional Aran knitting. Strictly hand-knit, championing traditional craft, ethical production and transparency. He aims to conserve Ireland’s rich textile heritage by creating clothing that offers dignity to the garment worker with fair pay, dignity to the environment with natural fibres and dignity to the wearer with a unique style that will stand the test of time and reject the fast-fashion industry of today.
   
• Niamh Ní Catháin; a textile designer and researcher whose work centres on weaving and local fibre systems; including wool, flax and experimental bio-yarns (e.g. mussel shell bio-yarn). She blends craft traditions with forward-thinking material science. Through embodied making and community collaboration, she explores how textiles can reconnect people, place and ecological care.

This panel will be moderated by Alison Gault, Professor of Regenerative Textiles and Fashion at Belfast School of Art and internationally renowned designer. A member of the Irish Grown Wool Council and UK Design Council Expert, her career spans woven and knitted textiles, sustainable material research and leadership in textile innovation.