Irish designers, dramatic landscapes and landmark venues will showcase the island’s creativity to an international audience
Ireland Fashion Week returns for its second edition from 7 to 12 October 2026, bringing Irish fashion and creativity to a collection of distinctive venues across the island, including Slane Castle in County Meath, Dublin City Hall, Trinity College Dublin and Mount Juliet Estate in County Kilkenny.
The event offers an opportunity to showcase Ireland as a contemporary, creative and culturally confident destination. Historic buildings, celebrated cultural institutions and dramatic landscapes will provide the settings for a programme that connects Irish design with the places, traditions and communities that inspire it.
The week will open at the iconic Slane Castle in County Meath before moving to venues across Dublin, including Dublin City Hall, the RDS and the Douglas Hyde Gallery at Trinity College Dublin. The programme will conclude at Mount Juliet Estate in County Kilkenny.
Irish designers taking part include Sinéad O’Dwyer, Paul Costelloe, Aoife McNamara, Sasha Donnellan, RASHHIIID, Brother Wolf by Pádraig Whelehn, Mná by Sarah Plunkett Chadwick and Bold Golf, together with emerging and graduate talent from across the island.
The Dublin City Hall show will spotlight internationally respected Irish designer Sinéad O’Dwyer, whose progressive approach to inclusivity, representation and innovative pattern-cutting is helping to redefine contemporary luxury. O’Dwyer is a recipient of the Zalando Visionary Award and British Fashion Council NEWGEN support and was a semi-finalist for the 2025 LVMH Prize. Two of her designs are currently held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.
The return of Ireland Fashion Week follows a successful inaugural year, which welcomed more than 2,000 attendees and featured 55 designers across seven shows. The 2026 edition will expand to more than 90 designers and eight shows, bringing Irish creative talent to an even broader international audience.
A creative island in motion
The programme is accompanied by a new creative campaign, Coming Home: An Island in Motion, photographed by internationally acclaimed Irish photographer Damian Foxe in Roundstone, Connemara.
Set against Ireland’s Atlantic edge, the campaign brings Irish fashion into dialogue with the working harbour, traditional boat workshops, rugged shoreline and shifting light of Roundstone. It illustrates the close relationship between Irish creativity and place, showing how the island’s landscapes, heritage and communities continue to inspire a new generation of designers and cultural figures.
The campaign features eight personalities from Irish film, music, fashion, sport and culture: actor Jamie-Lee O’Donnell; racing driver Max Hart; Irish fashion icon Celia Holman Lee; Ireland Fashion Week Model of the Year Marwa Noelle Ali; musicians Travy and Abdu Huss, known as KhakiKid; digital creator Lauren Whelan; and actor and model Ivana Miličević.
Ashley McDonnell, Founder of Ireland Fashion Week, said:
“Ireland has always produced exceptional creative talent, but there is now a renewed confidence in how that talent is presenting itself to the world. Ireland Fashion Week was created to give Irish designers and creatives an international platform equal to the quality and ambition of their work.”
Through its combination of Irish design, internationally recognised talent and remarkable locations, Ireland Fashion Week will present an outward-looking portrait of the island, one that is rooted in its heritage while embracing new ideas, diverse influences and global ambition.
Ireland Fashion Week 2026 is powered by Visa and supported by Tourism Ireland and Dublin City Council.
For further information about Ireland Fashion Week 2026, visit:
https://irelandfashionweek.substack.com/