DESIGN
The Calling into Fashion
I have always been aesthetically sensitive and highly opinionated about clothes (my own and others’). I dreamed of being a fashion designer from the age of nine. Before that, I wanted to be an artist but when I discovered the connection between art and fashion, that seemed to be the perfect job to merge my obsessions with colour, drawing and clothing.
There were not so many opportunities to study fashion growing up in Ireland but I did a summer course in Central St. Martin’s when I was 17 and I later did an evening course in pattern cutting at The Grafton Academy of Fashion Design while I was studying in Dublin.
I followed my calling and enrolled in London College of Fashion’s Art and Design Foundation course, which seemed like the best way to pivot onto the fashion career path. That was an extremely stressful year-long course with an intensive curriculum of rotating modules, including art history and architecture appreciation, photography and fine art. Although the course was at London College of Fashion, it had very little to do with fashion itself, focusing more on visual research and critical thinking. It had a high dropout rate but I somehow made it through and along the way, I decided to continue my studies at Ravensbourne because they offered a fast-track 2-year degree course, specifically aimed at mature students. Little did I know how much more intensive that would be.
During my years studying fashion in London, I did internships at Clements Ribeiro and Jonathan Saunders and I learnt so much but slept so little, due to the non-stop project deadlines we were required to meet. I also worked part-time at Van Peterson, a well-known jewellery boutique on Walton Street in Chelsea. I loved that job - helping customers choose the perfect gemstone pieces for themselves or loved ones. I learnt a lot about luxury retail and jewellery and met more than a few famous faces in that shop. As part-time jobs went, it was a pretty exciting one to have as a student and I felt very blessed to work there.
While my love of fashion design didn’t fade, the more I was exposed to it, the more disillusioned I became with the industry as a whole. I became aware of the different layers that propped up the shiny glamorous level at the top and I saw so much inequality. Inequality in working conditions, opportunity and wages… I was exposed to it all - the celebrity parties and fashion shows, the fancy stores, as well as the less glamorous garment factories where immigrants toiled away in silence against a fluorescent-lit backdrop of whirring machines. I began to feel conflicted and I began to question the world that had lured me in for years.
I was also becoming aware of the environmental impact of the fashion industry… And that was before fast fashion had even really taken off… I did my dissertation on why man tries to control nature. I studied The High Line in New York, urban planning, agriculture… Some of my classmates pointed out that all this had nothing to do with fashion and it didn’t on a surface level but in fact, it had everything to do with it. It’s all connected.
My graduate collection was stocked in an innovative online boutique called Nina + Lola and while the founder was kindly encouraging me to launch my own label, I was utterly exhausted and didn’t see how I was going to find the energy or funds to launch a label at that point. Nor was I sure that I wanted to add more products to a product-saturated world. Instead, I had become much more interested in the storytelling aspects of fashion and curation and I had this idea to create an online platform to present the best finds across the internet. It was 2007 and online shopping was still in its infancy. Not every designer or store sold online yet and I had this vision for a space that would present the best stores already selling online, as well as beautiful finds from emerging designers and artisans alongside offerings from more well-established names. If people were buying too much, I could at least help them buy well and support smaller businesses with exposure alongside larger ones.
The Pivot into Digital Design and Visual Storytelling
After I completed my fashion degee, I set about learning how to code in order to create the website I envisioned for my online business. It was no easy feat to build a large website in 2007 and Shophoppingmap was not launched until 2008.
Shophoppingmap was a directory linking to many amazing stores and designers from around the world across multiple categories, including menswear, womenswear, accessories, beauty and homeware. People found the website useful and it later morphed into a blog as well as a shopping and discovery tool. By 2010, the website was getting circa. 80k visits a month and I had affiliate partnerships with many top international designers and retailers but the business wasn’t making money. It had so much potential and looking back, all I needed was an investor so I could give it more time and energy. I did have offers from interested parties but because of my own blocks and fears, I never felt it was worthy of investment or that I was ready.
However, it was because of Shophoppingmap that I attracted clients within the fashion and luxury sector and they began to request my services for PR, marketing, web design and copywriting. I also attracted personal shopping and styling clients and so another business was born in 2012. These design and communications services still make up a lot of what I do today.
I often describe myself as a design and communications agency in one person but I would never have developed so many skills had I not started my own business at twenty-five. While it’s not the business that made me financially, it did make me in many other ways.
I am passionate about all aspects of storytelling and business development that goes into building a brand and I have been blessed to work with clients in many sectors beyond fashion, including health and wellness, tech and real estate.
Design Services
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Branding Design
I can work with you to create a brand identity that is truly aligned with your vision and will resonate with your audience.
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Web Development
I create beautiful, highly functional, modern websites in adherence with best practices for UX and SEO.
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Content Creation
From art direction to copywriting and video editing, I can create content for websites, presentations, advertising, social media etc.
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Styling & Sourcing
Whether it is for your personal wardrobe, a fashion shoot or an interiors space, I can source the perfect items from local and international suppliers.
Lets Discuss Your Project
Design, Curation and Sourcing in Portugal
When I moved to Portugal in 2022, a whole new world of craft and design opened up for discovery and I was eventually inspired to launch Espaços e Achados through which to offer my design, styling and sourcing services across fashion, interiors and real estate, as well as celebrate exciting businesses within the design and hospitality sectors here.
