Dublin Independent Fashion Week (DIFW) is transforming Ireland’s fashion landscape. Born out of a grassroots desire to give Irish designers a local platform, DIFW debuted in 2023 and quickly captured the attention of the fashion industry. With a bigger line-up and a weeklong schedule of events this year, it is set to become a staple in the global fashion calendar.
Aisling Duffy, a rising star in Irish fashion known for her timeless, sustainably crafted designs, shares her creative process, her commitment to sustainability, and what is next for her brand as she takes the spotlight at Dublin Independent Fashion Week
What inspired the creation of Dublin Independent Fashion Week, and how has the event evolved since its debut last year at The Chocolate Factory?
DIFW began as a conversation between a group of friends, who wanted to create an opportunity to showcase their work in Ireland. We all run Fashion and Accessory brands and met through the Trinity Fashion Show in early 2023.
Responding to the lack of an official Fashion Week in Ireland we created DIFW to provide a platform for both emerging and established talents in Irish Fashion to showcase their work to both a national and international audience. Our goal is to build upon and expand each year, creating a space for fashion, jewelry and accessory designers to showcase their work within a supportive community of Irish designers.
Last year’s debut took place in the Chocolate Factory showcasing the work of eight designers. For this year’s fashion week, we have expanded the line-up to twenty designers and have events taking place in various locations around Dublin from the 11th-17th November 2024.
How did you decide on the format of this year’s event, expanding from a weekend to a full week, and what can attendees expect from this extended experience?
Reflecting on the success of 2023, we know that there is a demand out there for an even more ambitious fashion event in Dublin. In February and August this year some of our committee attended and showcased their collections at Copenhagen Fashion Week. We wanted to incorporate that model of a schedule with fashion events running throughout the week.
For DIFW 2024 we have created a week-long event with a running schedule full of fashion events. Attendees will experience a week of Fashion celebrating the amazing talent of Designers based in Ireland.
The week will kick off with Designer Collection Presentations at Fade Street Studios, running Monday 11th – Thursday 14th. The week will culminate with our Smock Alley event, a two-day event in the banquet hall curated for the Fashion Industry (Friday 15th November) and open to the public (Saturday 16th November).
Expect to attend Fashion Presentations at Fade Street Studios (11th – 14th November) and finish the week with the incredible Smock Alley Showroom (16th November). There you will find 20 Designers showcasing their work, with each brand curating their own immersive space, welcoming visitors into their world. As well as this, DIFW will debut its “Ones to Watch” feature of six emerging talents on the cusp of breaking through.
With the growing presence and success of Irish designers globally, such as Michael Stewart and Simone Rochas, how does Dublin Independent Fashion Week help to showcase Irish talent on a more local stage?
The level of talent in Ireland is incredibly impressive, with designers specializing in Fashion, Knitwear, Jewelry, Accessories and Digital Interactive Fashion yet Ireland doesn’t have an official Fashion Week – an event many European cities have twice a year. With DIFW we are creating a platform for Designers to showcase their work here in Dublin. While London has long been the next step for Irish Designers to showcase and develop their brands as an Independent Fashion Designer finding a budget or funding to showcase at an event like London Fashion Week seems like an impossible task.
Having lived in London for years, it was only after moving back to Dublin and building connections with Fashion Designers in Ireland that I realised the need for an event like this in Ireland. Creating a fashion week in Ireland is a way of providing brands with accessible opportunities to build connections, network and feel supported within a community of designers based in Ireland.
DIFW 2023 was also successful in providing a space for stylists, photographers, models, content creators and fashion industry professionals to meet, connect and network.
The event’s move to Smock Alley Theatre seems like a perfect fit. What role does this historic venue play in complementing the vision of DIFW this year?
Our vision for DIFW 2024 is to elevate and expand on the experience of DIFW 2023. When we were deciding on a venue for our 2024 Fashion week, natural light was important to us. The banquet hall at Smock Alley is a beautiful historic venue in Temple Bar with impressive stained-glass windows and a high-rise ornate ceiling. We also wanted a venue that was large enough to align with our ambitions for DIFW 2024, showcasing double the number of Designers as last year in an iconic and beautiful setting.
Sustainability is a core focus for many of the designers involved. How does Dublin Independent Fashion Week highlight sustainable practices within the fashion industry?
Each designer’s work on the committee of DIFW is grounded in a commitment to sustainability. We have always looked to Copenhagen Fashion Week and how they have set out a minimum set of standards that designers must meet to showcase their collections there. That focus has influenced our approach to our event planning and designer selection.
One of our main criteria when we opened the application for new designers to showcase at DIFW 2024 was to ask how sustainability was reflected in their work and processes.
One of the aspects of sustainable fashion is transparency of the lifecycle of how a product is made. DIFW aims to support designers in aspects of fashion production, providing a space where designers can ask each other questions, offer advice, recommend fashion industry contacts and ultimately hold each other up.
Irish designers like Seán McGirr and Jonathan Anderson are leading major global fashion houses. Do you see Dublin Independent Fashion Week as a platform to help launch more Irish talent onto the international stage?
Our aim is to create a platform for designers to showcase their work to both a national and international audience. By showcasing at DIFW designers will have the opportunity to network with buyers, press and influencers working within the fashion industry. A starting point towards building connections and recognition. DIFW will continue to grow and expand each year, so this is just the beginning!
What challenges have you faced in organising and self-funding an event of this scale, especially when running your own independent businesses?
The DIFW committee is made up of 7 Designers. Laoise Carey, Sarah Carroll Kelly, Aisling Duffy, Ríon Hannora, Mihai Mar, Megan McGuigan, and Sarah O’Neill. Each of us run our own independent businesses, with both online and retail shops, so it has been a huge additional commitment to organise this event. Running a brand is a full-time job and we have all put in an incredible amount of time and energy into making this week happen – that’s how passionate we are!
We set to work on DIFW 2024 almost immediately after DIFW 2023 ended, months of planning, meetings and organisation that has gone into this year’s event. This year we have a Social Media manager, and graphic designers come on board helping run our social media, they are doing an amazing job.
Last year’s event was entirely self-funded, but we are delighted that this year’s Irish Design Showroom in Smock Alley Theatre is part-funded by the Design & Crafts Council Ireland. The two-day event will go live in conjunction with this year’s Irish Design Week,
What is your vision for the future of Dublin Independent Fashion Week, and how do you see it evolving/hope it will evolve over the next few years?
Our vision for DIFW is to grow and expand each year. We will continue to build out a weeklong schedule structure and encourage even more designers and brands to take part. We would love to find some permanent funding support and a venue that would be associated with the annual event.
DIFW 2023 was so well received – we were blown away by the response and demand for tickets and desire to be part of it. For us it confirmed the need for a fashion week in Dublin gives us the determination to grow year on year!
