Condensed from The Irish Times:

Lainey blows holes in traditional image of Irish knitwear

London catwalk success brings out the superlatives for ’delirious’ but shrewd designer Lainey Keogh was lionised after her latest London Fashion Week success. Robert O’Byrne was there, and she spoke to him

Until a year ago the only piece of Irish knitwear with an international profile was the Aran sweater. Safe, dependable, the staple of every tourist’s newly-purchased wardrobe, it helped to confirm this country’s image as a timeless land in which tradition exerted absolute authority.

The Aran sweater was perceived to hold a position in Irish fashion equivalent to the Catholic Church in Irish society.

Then in February 1997 knitwear designer Lainey Keogh staged her first solo show in London, and an entirely different view of Irish woollies was discovered. To the music of U2’s as-yet unreleased new album, models such as Naomi Campbell and Helena Christensen sashayed forth in knits so fine they seemed like a second skin, albeit one in gorgeous, jewel-bedecked colours. Critical response was an amusing blend of bewilderment and delight at the unexpected emergence of a major new design talent.

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