WEARINGIRISH showcases top designers/brands from Ireland. In this series, meet the designers and hear their stories. Here Margaret chats with Caroline Mitchell. Visit carolinemitchellknitwear.com for more!
TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND. My mum had me knitting and crocheting by the age of five. By 12, I was making clothes for Barbie and selling them to friends. I studied fashion design at Limerick School of Art & Design (LSAD), and after graduation, I worked in a knitwear company in Kildare and the knitwear just stuck! In 1996, I started my own label in Limerick. WHAT WAS THE MOST DEFINING MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER? I probably have two defining moments. The first was giving up a full-time job to set up my own business with £420 in the bank, a domestic knitting machine, and 12 cones of yarn. The second was being nominated in the Best Designer category at the Irish Fashion Innovation Awards. WHAT’S YOUR AMBITION FOR YOUR BRAND? Just for people to want to wear it! HOW YOU WOULD DEFINE THE HEART AND SOUL OF YOUR BRAND? Elegant, comfortable easy-to-wear knitwear with an attention to detail and made in Limerick. WHERE DOES YOUR BRAND NAME COME FROM? It comes from my own name (keeping it simple!)
WHO IS YOUR DREAM MUSE? WHY? I’m not sure about ‘dream’ but someone that I have dressed many times and has given me so much encouragement and inspiration is Celia Holman Lee from Limerick. If I were to choose someone famous, it would have been Elizabeth Taylor. YOUR DREAM COLLABORATION? I’d love to collaborate with knitwear designer Mark Fast; I love his use of colour and stitch. WHAT INSPIRES YOU ABOUT THE WEARINGIRISH MOVEMENT? I love that with the help of social media, anyone in the world can see Irish designed fashion thanks to the Wearing Irish hashtag. WHO DO YOU WANT TO WEAR IRISH? Everybody. TAKE US THROUGH YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS. I still use a good old-fashioned sketch pad. I visit the Pitti Filati trade fair every year for yarn inspiration. Inspiration can come from a holiday destination or an exhibition (recently Dior in the V&A). Then I draw, and swatch from those. HOW DOES A SENSE OF PLACE INFORM YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS— SPECIFICALLY IRELAND? When I first started designing knitwear, my inspiration came from Celtic art and craft. I love the texture and embellishment, from stone carvings to ornate jewelry. Ireland has such a strong history of craft: lacemaking, knitting, carving, that is different from anywhere else in the world. WHAT DOES BEING IRISH MEAN TO YOU AND IN WHAT WAY HAS IT INFLUENCED YOUR CREATIONS? I come from a long line of creative Irish women who have all influenced me, from my great aunt Florence Hobson, who was the first Irish female architect to my mother who made all my clothes when I was a child. MOST COVETED ITEM IN YOUR COLLECTION? A knitted wedding dress with a crocheted and beaded back detail. THREE THINGS YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT? TELL US ONE THING ABOUT YOURSELF THAT PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THAT I DIDN’T ASK. During the early 1950s, my mum worked in Dublin for the designer Irene Gilbert.