Cavan-native Mary Fitzpatrick has impressed many with her graduate collection, items from which are now on sale in Powerscourt’s Design Centre. We talk to the NCAD graduate about her Middle-Eastern influences, advice from Simone Rocha and her future collections.
So how did it all begin for you? Did you always have an inkling that you would go down the design route?
I think so, as a child I was always involved in various art competitions. But I was always quite worried about the thought of making a career out of it. My father is a farmer, my mother’s a civil servant and all my sisters are primary school teachers, so it’s all very practical, but I always wanted to try fashion design. I ended up going to Belfast first for my foundation year in art and design. In your core year you try everything, sculpture, textiles, ceramics… After that you specialise and that was when I knew it would be fashion. I moved to London then to do a fashion course in Central St Martin’s. It was a short course, about six or seven months, but it was aimed at building up a portfolio that you then use to apply to other colleges. I applied to NCAD and started the three year design course there, graduating this year. I presented my graduate collection and it worked out well as it was perfect time for the Design Centre.
You’ve had experience working with both John and Simone Rocha, it must have been tremendously beneficial working with two Irish designers?
Initially after my foundation year I wanted to do some work experience, so I applied to John Rocha to do an internship. I didn’t have a huge amount of experience so everything I did there was new and I got to really see how it all works. I also got to go to London with them for the shows, which was brilliant. While I was there, Simone would be in and out and we then also happened to be at St Martin’s at the same time – when I was doing my course, she was doing a masters. During my time there I found out that I had been accepted into a different college in London at the same time that I was accepted to NCAD and I was having a tough time deciding. I didn’t know a lot about the college in London, and I ended up sending Simone an email asking her what she thought because she had studied at NCAD. She said that there were pros and cons to both situations but that Dublin is a great place to study. After that, she asked me if I wanted to come help her for her show during London Fashion Week, which was a brilliant experience. I really enjoy her clothes; her style is very clean, quite blocky and minimalist in terms of patterns and colours.
You favour quite a loosely tailored, androgynous style, would that be influenced by the time you spent with Belgian designers A.F. Vandervorst? What kind of an education did you get there?
I don’t know where I first came across A.F. Vandervorst, I think it was when I was doing research in the library in second year. We have these books for trend forecasting and I noticed how they have a strong military curve to a lot of their collections, with strong tailoring from the inside out. I really admire their work and I was lucky enough to spend time with them in Antwerp between my second and third years. While I was there I was able to work with garments, cutting into them and reworking them and I really enjoyed that type of experience.
So your graduate collection Sheer Presence is being featured for the Autumn/Winter Season here at the Design Centre, how did that opportunity arise?
The owners of the Design Centre came to our degree show where we were showing our graduate collection. The Centre’s Fashion Scout, Erica approached me and I later met with Aisling and Siobhan, the owner and manager, to discuss my pieces. I had a month or two to prepare the clothes so I had some time to do some photographs and things like that. I set up a website then in January; I thought that this would be a good way to showcase my work and to make it more accessible.
You’ve said on your website that the collection references the metaphorical nature of a woman’s veil. Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind the collection?
It started off by looking at the veil from a western perspective, looking at opinions from the outside, how exactly it’s perceived. I asked myself was this a form of covering women up and putting them in a box, or is it a way of protecting them from outside dangers. I wanted to look at the veil itself in more detail so I actually ordered a burqa on Ebay to do some research. Essentially it is just a block of fabric but there is some nice ruching and embroidery. I ended up focusing on the idea of power – was this an object that has power to it or is it more of a derogatory garment? From there I started looking at lawyers outfits which was good timing as Louis Copeland had recently started a tailoring academy in NCAD and they actually produce all the legal wear in Ireland. So I studied those garments as well and that all fed into the concept of power within clothing.
Looking at your menswear, there are real eastern and oriental influences would they be your main points of reference in your work?
I really like the effect of drape but at the same time I do love tailoring as well in my personal style. I suppose I appreciate quite a sharp, androgynous look. I do get a lot of people saying it’s quite eastern looking which is funny because I’ve never travelled there before. I feel like at some stage I’m going to have to go there, it might ruin my whole perception of it or then again I might become even more inspired.
What’s on the cards for you over the next year? Are you working on a new collection?
For my next collection I’m using a lot of the same things, the fabrics will be a bit lighter of course but a lot of the shapes are the same. This year I’m using a torn tulle and I’m bonding it between sheer georgette. I’ll also be spending more time with A.F. Vandervorst as part of the Leonardo da Vinci internship scheme. I thought it would be better working with people whose work I’m familiar with, rather than approaching a company who didn’t know me. I really enjoyed my time in Antwerp and I know my way around the city at this stage. I also have an internship set up with All Saints, it’s quite short one but it’s all about building up contacts and gaining more experience. After seeing my pieces on sale here I would definitely see myself working as an independent designer. I might pursue a masters in London, but for the moment there are good opportunities in Dublin so we’ll see what happens here.
Mary’s designs are available from the Design Centre in the Powerscourt Centre, South William Street, Dublin 2. Her full collection can be viewed online at www.maryfitzpatrick.net
Words: Niamh McNeela
