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Fashion graduate Ellen Edwards from Knockbridge has been shortlisted for two prestigious awards.
llen, who graduated with a degree in Fashions and Textiles from Limerick School of Art and Design, has been shortlisted for the International Arts Thread Gucci Global Design Graduate Showcase 2022 and the Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI) Graduate Awards.
Being short-listed for these two awards is a major achievement for the 24 year old, as her studies were disrupted by the pandemic.
“I was in second year when we went into lockdown in March 2020, so for the next three months and for all of third year, everything was on-line.”
This was particularly difficult for a practical subject like fashion and textiles, which depends very much on lecturers demonstrating various techniques.
“The way I like to learn is to have someone show be how to do things, so it was hard not to to have one to one tutoring” says Ellen.
She also missed out on the opportunity to do a placement with an established designer or fashion house which is a standard part of the course.
“I had planned to doing my placement in Glasgow as my sister Sarah was living there at the time.”
Not one to be deterred, Ellen bought a flatbed knitting machine and learned how to use it.
“When we went back to college for fourth year, we were straight into working for our graduate collection, which was a massive amount of work.”
Her stunning graduate collection is called ‘The Reason’ .
“It comes from a quote by Terry Hooley the owner of the Good Vibrations record store in Belfast during the Troubles whose stance on the social issues was peace,” she explains.
“Growing up, my parents told me stories about their youth and living in Northern Ireland during such a tumultuous time,” she says.
While these were the typical youthful stories of young people sneaking out to dances, they were set against the backdrop of The Troubles.
Ellen was inspired by this contrast, between her warm memories of their families and the ever present danger of being caught in the crossfire.
It features jumpers made from a patchwork of knitted and crochet squares with hand embroidered motifs of barbed wire, and tulle skirts.
“The idea of the patchwork and the barbed wire was about binding things together,” she says. “Re-building from the remnants of the past to create something new and functional. The knitted jumpers are to give a nod to cozy family life with ribs and edgings to link the military style together and the skirts are to show the large impact of explosions that was common at the time.”
Ellen says she always wanted to study fashion from a young age.
“I was constantly making dresses for my Barbies and my Teddy bear always had a different outfit.”
Her love for art was encouraged by her art teacher Miss McEneaney at St Louis and she went on to do a PLC in art at O’Fiaich Institute of Higher Education.
“It was my teachers there, Gerry Reilly and Claire Reilly who told me about LSAD and once I went down to submit my portfolio I knew that was where I wanted to study as everyone was so welcoming.”
Since graduating Ellen has been lucky to have found work with the Ireland’s Eye Knitwear which exports Aran knitwear around the globe.
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