Waterford Stylewatch: Fashion Designer Aoife Mullane is Coming to Waterford

Michelle Heffernan Reports

Aoife Mullane is on the course to become a household name. With clients like Amy Huberman and Vogue Williams snapped in her stunning designs, this fashion and interiors designer is proving herself to be on the cutting edge of Irish fashion trends. This Saturday Aoife will visit Muse Boutique, The Quay, Waterford for a “Meet the Designer” event. She spoke to us about moving from student to self employed designer, and the thrill of seeing her designs on Irish stars
Hi Aoife! Tell us a bit about yourself and your background!
I studied Textile design in NCAD in Dublin, this course focuses on designing prints for both  interior & fashion fabrics. I initially specialised in fabrics for interiors. Straight after I graduated , I was approached by an architect firm working on a high end project in Dublin and they wanted to include my work through out their new commercial development of luxury beauty salons – and so A.Mullane Design was born. As I continued to develop my interiors fabrics – I continued to gain requests to design fabrics for wearable pieces. So I have recently launched a beautiful range of hand printed silk capes and wrap kimonos.
 On Saturday 20^th October you’ll be visiting Muse Boutique for the Meet the Designer Event. Can you tell me more detail about this event
I consider the story and the design process behind my pieces very important so by  visiting the Muse Boutique  I will be able to tell this story directly to the customers. I will be  launching my newest collection of designs.   I will also be taking some never before seen colour ways and brand new prints to launched exclusively at the Muse which is very exciting.

 You have a magnificent collection of interior design pieces- tell me about your interior design collections
I initially started out designing my fabrics for interiors. I live by the Sea in Bray and I am very inspired by my natural surroundings. I work with lots of specialised metallic foiling techniques and these are all inspired by the fleck of quartz and aluminium that can be seen on the pebbles and rocks by the sea where I live.

 Vogue Williams was recently snapped in one of your fabulous kimonos. Tell us more about your move into fashion design
As mentioned the wearables are my newest venture. I design fabrics that  I consider to be beautiful so whether they are applied to an interior setting or if they designed  to be worn – my  main focus is to create beautiful prints.  Indeed Vogue Williams is a fan of my work and has worn two kimonos of mine, Amy Huberman was also recently spotted wearing one of my kimonos just a couple of weeks ago. It gives me such a buzz to know that people (especially of that prestige) love my work.
 Why is it important to support local, Irish designers?
I am incredibly proud that I am currently making and producing all my design work here in Ireland. I work with a number of local seamstresses , wood workers, screen makers and I consider them my ” team”. I always say people like buying  Irish, however they are first and fore mostly concerned with the beauty and  quality of design, so I focus primarily on creating beautiful pieces and the fact they are Irish is a bonus

  What for you has been a key milestone or goal in your design career?
Each project I complete gives me a real sense of achievement. I completed a really nice project for the Alex Hotel in Dublin recently – this is owned by the O Callaghan Hotel group , and they wanted to include a number of Irish design pieces within the new refurbishment. I was approached by the architect company working on the project and commissioned to create 5 wall hangings for all 112 bedrooms , so it was a mammoth project to take on and so I felt a huge sense of achievement following completion.
What can a customer expect to find/experience in Muse Boutique on Oct 20^th?
I will be in the boutique chatting to clients about my hand rendered process, showing how I love to style and wear the capes and kimonos and also taking some exclusive new prints and colour ways with me. I will be able to answer any questions on the pieces and also give advice. There will even be a little glass of bubbly !
Aoife Mullane will be at Muse Boutique this Saturday October 20^th from 1-4pm to present her A.Mullane collection, Spaces for the event are limited. To book a place call Muse Boutique on (051) 854 448