CREATE 2026: 5 Irish designers to check out this summer
I spend a lot of time talking about Irish fashion. Perhaps too much. But having spent so much time in the industry: talking about it, researching it and working within it, one thing I return to is that Irish designers do not need more praise from afar – they need tangible opportunities.
Customers. Visibility. Mentorship. Somewhere to actually sell their clothes.
Enter: Brown Thomas CREATE.
Jennifer Slattery
Returning to Grafton Street this summer, CREATE gives a carefully selected group of independent Irish designers the opportunity to showcase their work within Ireland's leading luxury department store.
Across July and August, each will take their turn on the shop floor, introducing their collections to new customers and positioning Irish design alongside some of the biggest names in global fashion.
For an emerging designer, that positioning matters. Seeing your work in Brown Thomas isn’t simply a nice moment or a good photograph for Instagram; it puts your clothes in front of people who can actually buy, wear and talk about them.
It can introduce an independent Irish brand to an entirely new audience – including the slew of international visitors passing through our city during the summer months.
The support goes beyond physical space, too. Participating designers receive mentorship from Irish fashion and design consultant Eddie Shanahan, offering invaluable guidance on the realities of building a creative business. Customers also have opportunities to meet the designers themselves – putting a face, and a story, to the clothes and accessories on display.
August Night
Brown Thomas has been supporting Irish fashion talent through CREATE for more than a decade, while its separate Designer to Watch bursary programme with the National College of Art and Design is now in its 11th cycle.
So, let’s meet this year’s line-up…
Six Roads: 2nd – 15th July
Six Roads
First up is Six Roads, an Irish womenswear label founded by Dublin designer Anneliese Duffy and based in New Ross.
Duffy studied pattern cutting, fashion and textiles, and that understanding of construction is clear in her collection, The Art of the Dance. Inspired by the Andalusian horse and its particular combination of strength and grace, she translates movement into sweeping box-pleat skirts, sheer pussy-bow blouses and fluid satin-back crepe dresses.
There is romance here, but not fragility. Voluminous silhouettes mimic the drama of a horse at full gallop, while a focused palette of ivory, ebony and rich greens keeps things elegant. The result is feminine, theatrical and unapologetically glamorous – without feeling like it is trying too hard.
August Night: 9th July – 5th August
August Night
Irish accessories label August Night is the work of designer Caoimhe Grant, an NCAD graduate with an impressive CV.
Before launching her own label, Grant spent more than 18 years working as a senior designer with John Rocha, later working with his daughter Simone Rocha - now one of the most talked about names, not only in Ireland, but the fashion industry as a whole.
Designed and ethically made in Ireland, her bags are softly sculptural, twisted and knotted into unexpected shapes, finished with generous bows. Duchess satin and crisp techno taffeta finishes are strikingly glamorous, but also durable – these aren’t precious little bags destined to spend most of their lives in a dust bag.
For 2026, Grant introduces gilded metallics, dark rose, soft toffee and moss khaki, alongside new cinch and drawstring silhouettes. Each one playful, romantic and slightly eccentric – in the best possible way.
Jennifer Slattery: 16th – 29th July
Jennifer Slattery
If Irish textiles are to survive, they need to be worn. Jennifer Slattery makes a very convincing case for doing exactly that.
Her eponymous label takes Irish linen and authentic Donegal tweed, and brings them into a modern wardrobe through considered, seasonless pieces produced on a small scale.
Slattery’s signature embroidery, created in her Dublin studio, adds another layer of craft to the collection. What I find particularly compelling about her work is that heritage isn’t treated as something to be preserved behind glass.
These are historic Irish materials, yes, but they are designed to live, move and be worn now – surely that is the best way to ensure they survive.
Triona: 30th July – 12th August
Triona
From Ardara, Co. Donegal, family-run brand Triona has been working with Ireland’s weaving traditions since 1984.
Irish tweed, wool, linen and cashmere are central to the brand, and for Autumn Winter 2026, the Donegal landscape becomes its palette: peat, stone, moss and storm grey appear across tailoring, structured outerwear and knitwear.
At a time when there is so much conversation about the future of Irish fashion, it’s equally important to look at what we already have: Generations of knowledge. Exceptional natural materials. Skills that cannot simply be relearned once they disappear.
Triona understands this. Its work doesn’t treat heritage as nostalgia or something that must remain frozen in time. Instead, it takes the materials and traditions already embedded in Irish culture and asks how they can continue to evolve.
Pearl Reddington: 13th August – 26th August
Pearl Reddington
Based in rural Leitrim, Pearl Reddington works primarily with Donegal-spun yarns and Donegal manufacturing, bringing an unexpected sense of colour and character to some of Ireland’s most recognisable knitwear traditions.
For CREATE, Reddington looks to the landscape of Ireland’s North West, developing custom colours and blends exclusively for Brown Thomas; dusty pinks meet traditional Donegal flecks and flashes of her signature neon detailing.
The Northern Lights Jumper, a chunky Fair Isle-inspired knit, captures flashes of colour against cold night skies, while the Porcelain Cardigan is finished with handmade porcelain buttons designed to be kept as keepsakes.
What Reddington does best is traditional Irish knitwear, without a doubt, but not necessarily as you might expect it.
Pearl Reddington
CREATE gives designers access to new customers, mentorship and, crucially, space on the shop floor of Ireland’s most important luxury retailer – the same shop floor occupied by some of the biggest fashion houses in the world.
For a young independent designer, that opportunity can be invaluable. Talent alone does not build a sustainable fashion business. Designers need visibility, customers, commercial guidance and someone willing to extend a hand, or open a door.
