Wide-Eyed and Blind: CREATE 2016 at Brown Thomas - Celebrating emerging Irish design talents

Create is a wonderful, annual display at Brown Thomas that finds, showcases and sells some of the best emerging design talent that Ireland has to offer. This year, in particular, the team has outdone themselves in the designers they have sourced, as well as the actual display itself which is a glass, lights and solid block colours affair, in retro shades of seafoam and dusty pink. The display was also admirably made using a lot of polycarbonate and sustainable materials, as sustainability is an increasing issue on the mind of the brand.

Launched on the 5th of July and running until the 14th of August, this year's Create is the 6th edition of the installation and brings together the work of 19 talented designers across ready-to-wear, accessories, millinery and jewellery in the Grafton Street store.

The popularity of the scheme was apparent as, the same day I made my trip to specifically check it out, I heard countless others, clearly there for the same reason, excitedly explain it to companions as they strolled about. However, Create is also important as it showcases for Irish designers that are starting out and introduces work that might be stocked in boutiques in some far off parts of the globe to home crowds.

Shelly Corkery, Fashion Director for Brown Thomas notes that they"are very proud of CREATE, as it shines a spotlight on the Brown Thomas tradition of discovering and promoting Irish Design talent, this year we have worked closely with the Chairman of the Council of Fashion Design, Eddie Shanahan and with NCAD to discover the designers of the future."

The designers include talents and brands such as Mary Gregory, Richard Malone, Madigan Whisker, Teatum Jones and Margaret O'Connor.

One of the personal highlights for me has to be the beautiful floral creations of Aideen Gaynor that are the first thing to greet you upon taking the escalator up to the exhibition. Chosen as this year's "Designer to Watch" from NCAD's Annual Graduate Fashion Show by Shelly Corkery, she certainly makes an immediate and memorable impact with her bold silhouettes and prints. The sculptural footwear pieces by Sandra Plantos also caught my eye. Displayed in glass cases and utterly impractical but brutally beautiful, they tread a fascinating line between art and design and reference her background in architecture with their unconventional forms and materials. I was also delighted to see pieces from Richard Malone, who I've been a fan of for a while now. This collection is very visibly his but there is a lightness and ease to it that shows how the designer has truly come into his own in a rather delightful way.

If you're anywhere near Brown Thomas over the next while, make a point to pop in and take in just how bright the future of Irish design real is. It'll warm the cockles of any fashion lover's heart right up.