Caolum McCabe: ‘It’s incredibly challenging to resist the pull of relocating to cities such as London’
Passionate about creating a home-grown brand that is true to its heritage, it hasn’t been an easy process for designer Caolum McCabe who says that the country needs to do more to help its creatives. “Ireland really needs a support system to nurture the fast-growing fashion talent,” he tells me, admitting that he’s had “plenty of setbacks” along the way.
I feel that the lived experience of those creating in Ireland is too often a struggle, particularly for fashion and textile designers.
It’s incredibly challenging to resist the pull of relocating to larger-than-life cities such as London where the fashion industries thrive. Having studied at the Arts University in Bournemouth, then working under namesake British Fashion Labels such as Vivienne Westwood and then S.S. DALEY, while I sought out many new contacts and opportunities and came to grips with the day-to-day functioning of a label, I realised I needed home more than ever before. My design career was falling flat in London, the larger designers took advantage of me and I returned home exasperated. I had to think about my career options In Ireland. Little did I realise the path this would lead me down, with my first womenswear collection debuting this year.
My mission is to establish a small fashion brand here at home in Ireland, whereby I can provide a space for myself and others to thrive, utilising the resources of craft that we have to sustain and strengthen the textile industry.
We’re experiencing a cultural renaissance, with our creative industries leading a charge that has placed us firmly on the global map of contemporary arts and culture. I will firmly plant my brand on Irish soil, reinforcing Ireland’s position as a cradle of creativity. I want more fashion brand start-ups at home, more studio spaces and larger fashion communities so that young designers and students don’t feel the need to relocate as if it’s their only option for success.
I always had a fascination with clothes.
My earliest memories are of me sitting under my granny Anna’s sewing machine at her legs, drawing Princess Aurora from the old VHS tape in that stunning dress in shades of cerulean and lapis. Art has always been a significant part of my life, especially in my teens when I was just coming to terms with my sexuality as a gay man. Art has always been a crutch for me and fashion happened to be my outlet. I suppose I always felt it was my calling, but at 17, I couldn’t see how it would be taken seriously as a career. I was always told it’s an extremely difficult and cutthroat industry. For that reason, I took myself away from it and tried to pursue make-up, and then on a whim applied for fashion because I knew I would regret it later on in my life.
Though I have sold pieces in the past, I took the last two years to explore and refine my design identity.
The way in which you work at university is quite different when you decide to become a functioning brand. Over these last few weeks, I have begun to share on Instagram and across social media snippets of my first womenswear collection, which will be debuting in the coming months thanks to the National Lottery players and money raised for good causes. Without revealing too much, I have been working hard to produce staple pieces of clothing championing the heritage and craft of Ireland. You will find lots of classic styles in the collection; shirts, coats, trousers – the pieces you will always return to time and time again. Trying to design pieces that are commercially viable and exciting is a hard balance to perfect. I’ve really spent time with my work and feel that this first collection will give people a taste of things to come and the stories I want to tell.
Money is always a concern.
But I’ve always found a way, no matter how hard. I’m very fortunate to have a family who believe so much in me and have supported me so much along the way. There’s quite a lot you don’t learn at university – finance and the business of fashion being a huge lacking subject. When I finally plucked up the courage to build my own brand, I approached the whole process very blindly. I knew every detail of design and what I wanted to create, but to realise those visions largely came from my own pockets and the part-time jobs I had and continue to work to help fund it. I’ve had a lot of ongoing conversations with my tutors from university and though they have been insightful, they fell short in many ways because I was in Ireland and a lot of the help was in London. I needed something at home, something local, not just because it was convenient, but because it had to feed into the brand’s ethos of made in Ireland and supported in Ireland. I’m doing my best to keep as much as I can here at home.
Though there are many talents in Ireland, we have little to show for a fashion industry and without that, there isn’t a very clear path to take when it comes to financial support, funding, grants etc.
So many fashion graduates relocate, it’s disheartening. I applied to the Individual Artists’ programme through the Arts Council on a whim, only for my dear friend Aoife McGuigan (stylist extraordinaire) who sent me the post advertising the application process, I would never have known about it – which is quite sad because I was crying out for help for the best part of two years. I just didn’t know where or how to go about receiving support. Since receiving the support, I’ve had young designers reach out asking for advice and I genuinely don’t know what to say to them. It was just one of those things; patience, hard work and in a way, luck is how I got it. It came at the right time. Ireland really needs a support system to nurture the fast-growing fashion talent, it’s about time that we see Ireland’s version of an LVMH.
There are plenty of setbacks when you’re trying to launch a solo design career and if I’ve learned anything from the industry it’s that accepting your failures is every bit as important as your successes.
Both will move you forward to where you are meant to be, though it may not be obvious to you at the time. As my Granda Micky has always told me, what’s meant for you won’t pass you by.
When I returned home from London after working for Westwood and LVMH winner S.S. DALEY, I was determined to build up my creative network in Ireland because I knew so little about the fashion community we had!
Through some digging across social media, I was incredibly drawn to the romantic work of accessory brand August Night. Caoimhe Grant, the creative director, really took me under her wing and mentored me in so many ways. I interned with Caoimhe for about a year as a creative pattern cutter and she opened up my world to the creative community in Dublin where I met other designers whose work I greatly respect and admire; Jennifer Slattery, Mii Haii from Mar Knitwear, Laoise Carey to name a few.
Resist the pressures of social media.
It can be disheartening to see all this creative content and feel like you’re falling behind. In the age of the internet, people want fast content, ready-made clothes, quick and easy but just know that slow and steady truly wins the race. Check in with yourself and take steps back as much as steps forward because those are equally as important. Refocus your mind constantly and make sure you are creating with purpose, passionately and sustainably. We don’t need any more clothes than we already have in the world, so if you are going to debut a brand, do it with love and quality at the heart of everything.
Being recognised as a designer and receiving funding from the Arts Council has to be my greatest achievement thus far.
That support came at a time when I was almost giving up on the idea of a career in fashion. I’ve had my fair share of knockbacks in the industry, with many larger designers driving me into the ground because, to them, I was just another fashion graduate. Up until this point, I was doing everything out of my own pocket, in and out of jobs trying to fund a dream. You’re constantly asking yourself, is this delusion or destiny? No one will ever understand the immense pressure and struggle that comes with being a fashion designer. It’s not a career for the faint-hearted, it has to be your waking thought and nightly dream. Thanks to National Lottery players and funding for good causes, it’s reinstalled faith in myself and even more passion for my work – 2025 is gonna be a big step forward for me and my brand and I am very excited for everyone to experience that.
I want people to resonate with the clothing…access a part of their minds in some way that forms a unique connection, a feeling, an emotion.
I’m deeply passionate about the human experience and the ability to tell stories is something very important to me. I want to be remembered for my ability to tell stories, to create fashion magic.
I’d really love to see Saoirse Ronan or Emma Watson in one of my pieces.
They embody so much strength and intellect. They value the worth of clothing and recognise the importance of championing not just emerging talent but sustainability too.
Photography by Caolum McCabe.
