Izzy Evans

Líonnar, translating to “when the sun hits the sea” is a textile-oriented womenswear collection set against the backdrop of the Irish coastal landscape. The research is centred around childhood nostalgia of family holidays spent in County Clare. These holidays first became memorable to me through my little brother Nicholas’ love of the beach and have remained a consistent memory of happy times.

Nicholas had Cerebral Palsy and loved the sensorial element of the beach. Nicholas passed away in 2015, and it was his and my family’s love of the Irish coastline, and the respite it provided to our family through times of grief, that I wanted to encapsulate in this collection. I wanted these garments to allow the wearer to feel transported to the shore at Clahane in County Clare.

Fabrication and textiles were central to this collection and using knitwear, techniques such as tufting, felting and repurposing waste yarn, I aimed to create a vibrant, texture-rich collection. I explored the concepts of emotional durability and mending in clothing by recreating methods of repair within the garments' design elements and using nostalgia to drive these. The garments are named after places and memories around Clare's coastal framework and aim to pay homage to the landscape, Irish heritage, and childhood nostalgia.