“I don't normally do super in-depth, philosophical collections,” says Robyn Lynch, a few days before her Autumn/Winter ’23 show at London Fashion Week. “I like to go off of a more light-hearted narrative.”
Thus far, the young Irish designer’s creations have served as something of a respite on the fashion week circuit. Where many designers use their brand to dissect complex, abstract themes, Lynch looks to expand on personal symbols (last season was inspired by an ‘I Got Crabs In Brighton’ tee her mum brought in the Eighties.) Never swaying far from her roots, the designer is inspired by her Irish upbringing and family for her traditional-meets-technical design codes. But at the weekend’s show, there was a more playful approach.
First, Lynch swapped her usual club-heavy soundtrack for something daintier. Harpist Róisín Berkeley set the scene as the models paraded around her, imbuing The Old Selfridges Hotel with enough Irish charm to fill Dublin Bay.
But whereas the soundtrack felt rich in heritage, the collection itself was rooted in contemporary culture – something for those nostalgic for a kitsch, new-Millennium energy, but without the Y2K pastiche. Using varying shades of green as the base colour, there were motifs of ‘90s smiley faces and shamrocks doing a Cèilidh, and a harp-embellished jumper synonymous with a pint of the black stuff. Stereotypes were plucked from the Emerald Isle and subverted, making symbols that many locals would shy from into a jolly homage to their homeland.
“What's the tackiest things that comes to mind when you think of Ireland?” It's the colour green and shamrock,” Lynch explains. “I wanted to explore how we can work within their constraints to try and make it a bit more humorous and put our own funny spin on it.”
Lynch is one of finalists of this year’s International Woolmark Prize – an award for emerging designers using wool in their collections – and decided to weave what she’s submitting into this collection. It meant having to base it on the institution's theme of ‘dialogue’, and so her process began by questioning what the term means. “Maybe for people who can't hear, dialogue is sight, or if they can't see, maybe it's touch, sound or texture. From there I asked myself, ‘What do we want to say with the brand and how can we execute that?’”
It goes beyond just Irish representation within the fashion-sphere. “I want to bridge that gap that I couldn't really find myself when I was in university,” she says, continuing to explain how she struggled to find any contemporary streetwear brands that she resonated with. “There were amazing womenswear designers, but I felt there was a gap in the market that was underrepresented.”
Having showed as part of Fashion East and independently for a few seasons now, her fusion of quintessential athleticwear and traditional Irish garments are intrinsic to her brand. The hybrid knit was first introduced in Autumn/Winter ’19 and returns as an Aran-esque jumper with panels of plain stitch Merino wool to contrast the chunky texture. Practical elements, like its adjustable waistband and neckline, make it functional and fashionable enough to be suitable pitch-side attire. “I feel like there’s such a stigma with an Aran jumper that's associated with a certain type of person in Ireland, the one who buys it in the airport [as a playful souvenir] or something like that, and I wanted to make it into something that has a bit more of a youthful, sporty silhouette.”
This knit, alongside the fleece hoodies, hiking cargo trousers and waistcoats (made from recycled Seaqual® nylon) makes the argument that tongue-in-cheek charm doesn’t have to be brash. It can be subdued and quiet, and still make you smile from ear to ear.
“I have a sense of pride,” Lynch replies on how this collection makes her feel. Its debut aligns with a growing fashion scene on home soil, something the designer noticed on her last trip to Irish retailer, Brown Thomas. “These kids were coming down on their lunch break to buy something… and for me when I left [Ireland], that wasn't around. All my friends live over here now; we all emigrated. And I feel now [the youth] aren’t, they're really building a culture there.” And there’s nothing tacky about it.
