The brand began with one key look in 2013 — a distinctive herringbone Donegal hand-woven mega blended tweed scarf in a one-day pop-up — and by 2016 it had a fully-fledged boutique. The flagship 50 square-metre store, with linen-coloured walls, duck egg windows, and a turf-hued ceiling, covers a rich array of Celtic fashion, accessories, and lifestyle goods. It is super centrally located, right beside one of Dublin’s busiest hotels, the Westbury, and just off Grafton Street, Dublin’s principal shopping street.

Caption: An Aran hand-knit jumper by Stable of Ireland

Since opening, the likes of Tommy Hilfiger, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Newton John have shopped the store, drawn in by Stable of Ireland’s unique product selection. Which is all about creating a sweet spot: harnessing exceptional local textiles — Irish linen, Irish tweed or wool — to develop special collections around those fabrics.

“We are an Irish unity brand — uniting what’s best in the country.”— explains Francie Duff, who co-founded Stable of Ireland with business partner Sonia Reynolds.

In linen, the pair work with all the five weavers still operating in Ireland, from Emblem in Wexford, to Ferguson and John England in Northern Ireland. Which is where Reynolds was born in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, going on to model in Japan, create her own PR and marketing agency, and found Dublin Fashion Week. Dublin born Duff - like Reynolds a mum of three - worked in design before opening a natural health business.

Caption: Stable of Ireland’s founders Sonia Reynolds and Francie Duff

Linen flax is now sourced from France and Belgium, though woven using Irish looms to create a sturdier, Irish version that holds colour with a certain depth. Seen in their famous Irish tricolour green, white, and orange scarf, spotted being worn by Bono sauntering down to Trafalgar Square. Scarf prices can vary from €70 for linen to €320 for superb lace-knit alpaca versions.

Stable of Ireland has also built a significant interiors business, from linen napkins at €20 or Irish beechwood high stools and fallen oak benches; to great jigsaw-handwoven blankets from Studio Donegal to couture-quality Wicklow Wool blankets. All in the Irish vernacular.

Bizarrely enough, the vast majority of Irish sheep are raised for meat, and their fleece is discarded. However Sonia and Francie discovered Catherine McCann, who developed a flock of rare Romney sheep on a farm in the Wicklow hills, which provide a uniquely soft fleece.

“Catherine built up a little flock and decided to spin some of its wool into yarn. So, we started a conversation with her, and said, ‘let's make this a collaboration where we can showcase something incredibly beautiful with Irish wool, and do it all in Ireland,” Francie explained.

Using the yarn processing plant with Donegal Yarns in Kilcar and Studio Donegal, the hand weaving specialist next door, located in the beautiful and remote Co. Donegal, they developed a special new Romney wool tweed. 

Caption: A full look by Stable of Ireland

“We wanted this to be a conversation piece about skills, ideas, and technologies in Ireland,” explains Sonia of the rare and remarkable fringed largescale blankets that retail for €695.

In tweeds, their heavy gauge Irish fleck tweed gilets have become clever staples. Stable works with Molloy in Ardara, creating rare fabrics which the veteran Irish couturier Peter O’Brien has turned into statement coats. Made in the brand’s studio in Dublin.

The brand’s DNA is based on the idea of rediscovering rare Irish garments and items with were becoming impossible to find. One of the best-sellers is the traditional Irish Tweed Cardigan Jacket, known as the Báinín, often lined with Irish linen. 

“We saw so many things that we loved and wanted to wear or gift - whether a hand-woven gilet or beautiful linen scarf - but we couldn't find them anywhere,” confesses Francie. 

Far too often Irish products were driven by a tourist agenda, creating cheaper knock-offs and cliched styles, rather than emerging from an Irish cultural aesthetic. So, the brand invested heavily in time and love over the past 14 years with weavers, hand weavers, and suppliers to create products that represented Ireland properly. 

“It was almost as if we were making excuses rather celebrating the beauty that was available in our country. We wanted something we were proud of,” adds Sonia.

Stable of Ireland now works with 30 Irish producers.

Caption: An Irish linen check scarf by Stable of Ireland 

In terms of sustainability, Stable of Ireland is hard to beat, seeing their products are all 100% natural linen, wool, merino, or silk. Even its woven baskets come from the Mullingar, a midlands city- supplied by Pauline Hogan, a former student of Joe Hogan, the famed local artisan who provided the beautiful ash wood pods commissioned by Jonathan Anderson for Loewe’s September 2018 show at UNESCO's Paris headquarters. For those who don’t make it to Dublin, Stable of Ireland have a great website, with e-commerce counting for 20% of annual revenues.

Today, its Dublin boutique has become a magnate for sophisticated shoppers. Hilfiger came by with his daughter and bought five hand knitted Aran jumpers, which Stable of Ireland offers in pea green, plum, or black. Cutting them fashionably shorter in a box shape, rather than in the baggy, naff gansey shape favoured by Irish tourist suppliers.

“Anyone who is in town comes into the shop.”— Sonia Reynolds

Reynolds mentions Elle Macpherson, Stevie Wonder, Stanley Tucci, and Taylor Swift, whose team all picked up Irish linen scarves. As did Macpherson, who nabbed an orange linen scarf when she was visiting the Irish capital for a gig by her boyfriend, bassist Doyle Bramhall II.

“Tommy was down staying in Adare Manor and told a pal that Stable of Ireland was his favourite shop in Ireland. And then he came back in three times!”— Sonia Reynolds

Article by

Godfrey Deeny

fashionnetwork.com

Original article in the FashionNetwork website: Stable of Ireland: Combining Celtic craft, creativity, and cool