We are delighted to have collaborated on this special project with multi award winning and world renowned wildlife cinematographer Sophie Darlington to design a simple functional work shirt that is suitable for filming in the wild.

About Sophie: Sophie Darlington ; Wildlife Cinematographer ASC, her extensive catalogue of work features on 9 David Attenborough Our Planet Series, Disney, National Geographic to name a few. Sophie is deeply committed to supporting initiatives, education and charities for environmental and climate change awareness and action. 

A long time in the making between busy schedules of filming lions, giving talks, awards and sending back and forth designs and samples and sourcing the Irish linen, this shirt is now here and available in our STABLE Dublin store and online.

The design brief was to be functional, practical, easy to pack and care for, loose fitting and provide some camouflage!

Irish Linen was our choice for fabric due to its unique properties as a natural plant based fabric,  with added benefits for temperature control and its naturally antibacterial nature.

We had a lot of fun with sampling designs and are really happy with the final result which is a simple practical smock style shirt, pockets, a high back neck collar (for sun protection) and a loose fit body (for ease of movement) cut in two shades of light green, lichen and grass (to disappear into the landscape while filming).

We have produced a limited edition and profits on the sale of shirts will go to raising funds for a special Irish charity selected by Sophie -- Save Our Sprat in Bantry Bay.  More at https://www.saveoursprat.ie 

Sophie selected this charity for their great work which not also aims to protect sprat as a much needed food source for the fish population off our shores but also for the wild sea bird populations that migrate to Ireland to have their chicks, such as those we saw up close on our trip to the Saltee Islands, Wexford Ireland in May this year.  

Images of Sophie on location on the Saltee Islands, Wexford, Ireland. 

Photography by and more about Gina Crighton here

Background on Sophie:

Sophie Darlington left Ireland at age 19 and moved to Tanzania to chase a dream of wildlife filmmaking. That was 30 years ago, where she was one of a handful of female filmmakers working in the wild. Today, she is a BAFTA-award winner who has held the door open for other women to follow in her footsteps.

Sophie is known for her ability to capture exceptionally emotional behavioural content with a strong focus on beauty which she believes is the key to it all. She was one of The Series Directors of Photography on National Geographic’s 2024 release ‘Queens’ focusing on female leadership in nature. Her impressive list of credits includes feature films for Disney Nature and BBC Earth as well as landmark bluechip series for, amongst others, Netflix, National Geographic and The BBC including Dynasties I and II, Our Planet I and II, The Hunt, Planet Earth II and Life Story, all narrated by the legendary Sir David Attenborough.

Sophie was part of the core team that won the BAFTA for Cinematography in 2016 for The Hunt (BBC) and was accepted as a BAFTA member in 2018. In 2025 she was invited to join the The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) as the first dedicated wildlife Cinematographer and the Academy, along with an esteemed class of artists, technologists, and professionals for contributions to motion pictures.

Growing up in the UK, Ireland, and Iran, Sophie traveled to East Africa in her early twenties where she met eight-time Emmy Winner & Cinematographer Hugo van Lawick. Hugo, renowned for his long-term partnership with National Geographic and Jane Goodall, took her on as a filming apprentice in the 1990’s and she spent several years learning the craft of natural history filmmaking out on the Serengeti Plains. Sophie carries on Hugo’s legacy today, in addition to filming she is actively and passionately involved in mentoring, public speaking & increasing diversity in wildlife filmmaking.

More about Sophie Darlington here