Hot Looks: Grand designs

Designer Deirdre Brennan knows that good fashion doesn’t mean stick-thin models with great bone structure. Instead, the idea of fashion comes from being real.
“When I say real women, I just mean beautiful women. It’s not about weight, it’s not about height, it’s nothing about that. It’s about character and their whole idea of sexiness is about self-knowledge. That’s what I was trying to achieve with my own outfits.”
This grounded approach to fashion combined with her own drive and talent gives the young designer her edge. Most recently, her work edged out that of 11 other finalists to win the Nokia Young Fashion Designer Award for 2007.
Although she cites Martin Margiela as a modern fashion icon, art and fashion have been a part of Brennan’s life from a young age. “I always loved illustration,” she says. “I’d draw dresses when I was a child and I’ve always been interested in art. I just nurtured it from there and I had a lot of support, so I decided to specialize in fashion in Limerick.”
As part of her degree, students in the course are required to compete in a competition. Brennan was selected as one of 12 Nokia finalists and asked to produce two outfits. Under the competitions’s guidelines, each outfit had to be distinctive but the inspiration was to remain the same.
The concept of Brennan’s final two outfits came from Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud. In the novel, a mother takes her two children on a trip to Morocco. While the children collect memories and experiences that form their identities, the mother hopes the trip will allow her to find herself and have a spiritual experience. Brennan used these two perspectives as a starting point for her final pieces.
“It’s all from second-hand gear,” she describes. “It’s a collage of pillow cases, handkerchiefs, dresses, and tops peppered with beading and embroidery. I re-invented old garments – but I removed them from their original context completely and applied them in an unique way. In a sense, I collaged a story.”
The busy third-year student doesn’t plan on taking a break in the near future. She will complete her course in two months and is preparing six new outfits for her final project. Following graduation, the designer will cash in on her prize by travelling to Tokyo for a buying trip and later collaborating with the Topshop design team. Despite the amazing privilege, Brennan believes that the true reward came from the competition itself.
“I learned so much from the process that it wouldn’t have mattered if I’d won or not,” she explains. “I learned so much from making my outfits. The process took me in a new direction and I’m hoping to apply this education to my own work.” Brennan is gearing up to put this new-found knowledge into practice, so keep an eye out for her refreshing designs in the near future.