From Bootcamp to Runway: Ireland Fashion Week 2026
Some moments feel quietly significant while they’re happening — even before you fully take them in. Being selected as one of 44 emerging designers to showcase at Ireland Fashion Week this October is definitely one of those.
For Detta Knitwear, it feels both exciting and grounding at the same time. A chance to step onto a bigger stage, while staying rooted in everything the brand stands for — landscape, craft, and slow, thoughtful making.
A First Step Together
Before the runway, there’s the process.
The first Graduate Bootcamp was where it all began — bringing the 44 of us together for the first time. It felt like a mix of anticipation, nerves, and genuine excitement. Everyone at a similar stage, but each with their own perspective and voice.
The day was full of conversations about what it actually means to build a career in fashion. Not just designing, but understanding how to communicate your work, shape your identity, and stay consistent in what you’re trying to say.
There was a strong thread running through everything:
- Know your point of view
- Stay true to it
- Tell your story clearly
Simple ideas, but not always easy to hold onto.
Thinking About the Runway
This year’s showcase theme is Damhsa — the Irish word for dance.
It’s a theme that naturally leans into movement — how clothes respond to the body, how they shift and flow, how they carry a kind of rhythm.
For knitwear, that feels like a really natural place to explore. Wool already moves, stretches, adapts. It has a life to it. So this becomes less about forcing an idea, and more about leaning into what’s already there.
There’s something interesting in that — letting the material lead, rather than overworking it.
Bringing It Home
What makes this even more special is where it’s happening.
Showing in Dublin — my hometown — adds a whole other layer to it. There’s something about returning home with your work that feels different. More personal. More real.
It’s not just about putting something on a runway, it’s about sharing it in a place that shaped you.
This will also be the first time the Raeside capsule collection is shown. It’s a natural extension of Detta Knitwear — still grounded in landscape and natural fibres, but a bit more focused, a bit more distilled.
Launching Raeside in Dublin feels right. Like everything is meeting in the same place at the same time.
More Than Just a Show
One of the things that stands out about Ireland Fashion Week is the support around it.
It’s not just “here’s a runway, good luck.” There’s real structure behind it — mentorship, guidance, and space to actually think about what you’re doing and why.
And the fact that it’s fully funded for graduate designers makes a huge difference. It creates room to focus on the work itself, without the usual pressures that can come with opportunities like this.
Looking Ahead
In October, it all comes together.
One look on the runway — but backed by months of thinking, making, and refining.
For Detta Knitwear, it’s not about a big statement or a dramatic shift. It’s about continuing to build something honest. Something connected to place, material, and process.
This feels like a step forward — not a final destination, just part of the journey.
For now, it’s back to the work.
Slowly, carefully, and with intention.
More to come as we get closer to Ireland Fashion Week and the launch of Raeside.