From Hibernia to Marylebone Lane_ Tracey Neuls presents Contemporary Irish Design
This month, our Marylebone flagship opens its doors to nine independent Irish designers, makers pushing their mineral-rich nation into becoming one of the most exciting fashion hubs there is. All their work shares something you can feel before you can really put a word to, both literally in the garments and aesthetically: a commitment to craftsmanship, to originality, to quality, to making things with care and purpose. These are artisans working with materials that are Irish in heart and in nature: ceramics, knitwear, glass, metal, textiles, each piece worked by hand and with immense patience. Worn on the body. Held in the home. Kept for generations. At a time when much of the design world is driven by speed and scale, Ireland has built a remarkable community of makers making work with authenticity and longevity, with a real, graceful devotion to the things they use.
For sale in our store between the 17th of August and the 30th are:
Adam Frew Ceramics captures the energy of the maker's hand as much as the precision of the material itself. Loose brushstrokes, scribbled lines and layered marks grow intuitively across each surface. Drawing has always been central to Adam's practice, and his ceramics have become a canvas where spontaneous mark making meets disciplined craftsmanship. Like Tracey, he celebrates the beauty of process, where the hand of the maker remains visible long after the work is complete. From vases to flat white cups to pots, Adam Frew Ceramics brings a range of homeware into the store, every piece thrown by hand.
Colin Burke is an award-winning designer who works with a network of expert hand knitters across Ireland. Every garment begins with traditional skills before being transformed through Colin's sculptural, architectural eye. No knitting machines are involved and Colin himself crochets the sleeves and finishing details himself. The shapes created push the boundaries of traditional Irish knitwear. His roots in architecture are clear and bold shapes abound, using stitches that cannot be reproduced by machines. These are truly art pieces, taking 40 - 50 hours to complete. From Colin Burke: a cream cardigan, a taupe jumper, and a gold hat, each piece built with the same sculptural precision that runs through all his designs.
Emer Roberts transforms nature into wearable sculpture and no more so than her stunning Starling Collection. Beginning with the life-casting of a naturally deceased starling, Emer creates intricate jewellery using mould making, lost-wax casting and precious metals, preserving every feather and detail with remarkable fidelity. Inspired by the swirling movement of starling murmurations and the symbolism of the halo, each piece blurs the boundaries between fine art and jewellery, celebrating both the beauty and fragility of the natural world. Tracey Neuls will be home to the Showstopper Starling necklace, Small Starling necklace, and Starling silver Halo ring, three exquisite pieces worth seeking out.
Jennifer Slattery is based in Dublin, creating in Irish linen and Donegal tweed. Jennifer makes homewares and clothing built to outlast a season or a trend. Like Tracey, she isn't interested in fast, only in things that are made once, worn for years, and passed down through generations. Her shirts designs we selected have to be worn to feel and see their design brilliance. Jennifer Slattery brings two gorgeous button-ups in store, the Margo linen tie shirt, and a Limited Edition Oversized Maud shirt, both drafted from the best Irish linen.
J. Hill's Standard makes hand-cut crystal, glassware, and home objects with immaculate precision that belongs in a museum. The name is borrowed from an 18th-century glass alchemist who arrived in Ireland in 1783 with a formula for compounding glass no one else had. Founder Anike Tyrrell picked up that legacy and built something contemporary and luxurious on top of it. We have selected a group of glassware to showcase designed in collaboration with Irish Designers Irenie Cossey, Richard Malone and Aldo Bakker. J. Hill's Standard fills our shelves with an exceptional range of glass homeware, every piece hand-cut with real precision.
Pearl Reddington is knitwear made in the rural northwest of Ireland, where the landscape gets into everything, including the yarn. Pearl works in neon the way Tracey also has, a jolt of colour against something architectural and distinct. Proof that two designers can speak the same language through entirely different materials. Pearl Reddington brings the Báinín gorgeous Irish wool jumper with yellow neon cuffs, alongside the merino, cashmere, and mohair blend Porcelain cardigan finished with oxblood cuffs.
Ríon Hannora is a sustainable label built from what's already been made: reclaimed fabrics, vintage textiles, and discarded materials, remade into something entirely new and entirely unique. Her corset T-shirts turn one of fashion's most restrictive garments into one of its most relaxed. It's a thoughtful reminder that clothing can reference the past without repeating it. Ríon Hannora brings a run of unique white tees, each printed with a corset front, a classical trompe-l'œil.
Sphere One creates exceptional knitwear from the finest natural yarns, celebrating a level of craftsmanship that has long been part of Ireland's creative identity. Every piece is hand finished, honouring traditional skills while feeling unmistakably contemporary. We share a belief that enduring design is built on craftsmanship, integrity and attention to detail, an appreciation for making things timelessly original and beautiful. In store from Sphere One: two jumpers, the Capillary available in Peat with Anthracite Chiffon, and the hand knit Mizen in black, both carrying a similar understated luxury in feel and fit.
The Tweed Project creates one-off, handmade pieces, each entirely unique, combining Irish fabric with modern tailoring from a small atelier in Galway. Irish linen and Donegal tweed give every piece the same quality we look for in everything here: long-lasting, and made with intention. Aoibheann MacNamara is also the founder of the celebrated Galway restaurant Ard Bia at Nimmos and has created Summerage, a slow-living retreat in the Burren. Together, she describes these as her "slow trilogy": slow food, slow fashion and slow living. However you will need to book ‘fast’! In store from The Tweed Project: a tartan skirt and a knitted vest, both one-of-a-kind pieces from their small Galway atelier.
These works of art sit in our flagship as a symbol of kinship. A shared way of seeing. For more than twenty-five years, Tracey has built her own practice on independent thinking, on design that outlasts trends and zeitgeists, on a respect for craft akin to reverence. These are not qualities you can manufacture in a factory or fake on social media. You know them when you see them, and Tracey saw them immediately in every maker that'll be gathered here. This isn't a pop-up in the way you might expect. In keeping with Tracey's signature way of showing, shoes swinging as you pass, never simply shelved, there are no racks to flick through, no rails of repetition. Instead, visitors are invited to sit with the stories, the hands, the processes, the small decisions that shape every piece on display. The people behind the objects, given room to be seen and felt.
London has always had a hunger for the independent, the handmade, and the honest. And so Tracey Neuls is proud to hand over a little of this space to a new generation of Irish makers.
Written by Jason Cassar for Tracey Neuls Online