Photography by Vladimir Akhmatov
Meet the 22-year-old designer inspired by the harsh extremes of West Clare landscapes
Michéal Mc Inerney is an NCAD graduate whose eveningwear collection, Hag’s Head, reflects his upbringing in Clare, the Cliffs of Moher, and how the landscape, atmosphere, culture and flora have influenced his design aesthetic
My name is Michéal Mc Inerney, I’m 22, and I’ve just graduated from Fashion Design in NCAD. I’m originally from a small village called Ballyherragh right beside the Cliffs of Moher in Co. Clare, but I’ve been living and studying in Dublin for the past four years. I’m currently working full time in costume for film and television as a trainee maker, but my goal for the next few years would be to move into pattern cutting for fashion.
I always knew I wanted to work in something creative. Before starting at NCAD, I was hoping to go into the Illustration course at the college. But during my first year there, on a whim, I tried a wearable-focused module. It was the first time I’d been encouraged to create something for the body, and the possibility and creativity that it allowed sparked an interest in fashion that has consumed the last four years of my life completely!
The ethos
Within my work, I like to explore the relationship between clothing and the body. As a designer I’m particularly drawn to unconventional eveningwear and tailoring, the idea of transformation, and beautiful, strange things.
I’m quite passionate about pattern cutting and draping, so I like to centre cutting and draping in my work. For me, it’s very important as a designer to be conscious of craft, and to push that within my work. I want my work to always move forward: towards higher levels of craftsmanship and towards subject matter that I find new and exciting.
I’m generally drawn towards more gothic subject matter, which I think is a symptom of the landscape I grew up in. West Clare is a beautiful place, but there is a harshness to it, both environmentally and culturally. It’s a place of extremes, and that makes it difficult to live in. I think the brutal beauty of the area has had an overwhelming influence in my work, and it was that fascination with the area that I explored within my graduate collection.
I’m not quite yet fully fledged as a business, but I think what interests me most at the moment is working through a made-to-measure model and doing commissioned work. So in that sense, anything I’ve designed so far is what I would stock, which mainly consists of eveningwear pieces in wool, silk, and jersey.
The Hag’s Head collection
Hag’s Head is an eveningwear collection that reflects where I grew up, the Cliffs of Moher, and how the landscape, atmosphere, culture and flora have influenced my aesthetic. It tells the legend of Hag’s Head, the westernmost point of the cliffs, about a witch who fell in love with Cú Chulainn. Her love ultimately leads to her demise, her body transforming the cliff face of Hag’s Head to look like her.
The collection is an imagined embodiment of the area, drawing from the contradictory traits that define the landscape and people, the brutal, the conservative and the gothic, paired with the beauty, the kinship, and the ethereal.
Photography Vladimir Akhmatov actually reached out to me over Instagram to shoot the collection! He showed me a few mood boards he had made, and I was pretty much immediately on board with it. I was particularly excited to work with him and the stylist Alein Roche, as I feel they both have a really strong vision, and they very clearly understood what my collection was about and the context it should be shot in.
We ended up shooting at Portmarnock in Swords, which coincidentally, has a very similar landscape to some of the beaches at home. Vladimir’s shoot allowed the pieces to be shot in the way that I had always imagined my pieces when designing them. We had an excellent day for the shoot, it was really bright, and wind allowed the garments to come to life in a way that’s just not possible in a studio setting. We had Sasha and Neisha modeling, who were both absolutely fantastic, and did amazing work, despite the cold and wind! Anastasija Vidusa did the makeup, which was so gorgeous and really emphasised the mood of the shoot.
The logistics
I think funding is one of the biggest barriers as a young designer. In order to make high-quality work with high-quality fabrics, it’s always going to be costly, especially in Ireland. We just don’t have many places to buy quality fabric, which means that for me, most of my fabric had to be sourced online, which is expensive and time-consuming.
I have future collections planned in my mind, but I have to structure those expenses around rent and work, so I think that when faced with that barrier the only way to circumvent it is by working in a slow, considered manner. Though I do think there’s a real beauty in being able to produce slowly, because it allows me to really think about things. While money is a restriction, it makes me much more careful and thorough with my designs. I find that having to consider my options for longer makes me more deliberate with what I am doing with each piece, and whether something is valuable for me and my design philosophy. Ultimately, I’d like to believe it makes me a better designer.
The best business advice I’ve gotten is less specific advice and more a general attitude, and that is the importance and value of saying no to things. It can be very easy to get swept up in a lot of the offers you get as a young designer, and I think it’s important to consider whether things are worthwhile, in terms of both your time and your optics. Unless something will provide an opportunity later or create something really nice for your portfolio, it generally isn’t worth it from a business perspective. That might sound quite negative, but I think what it really means is to consider your options and what is right for you and the body of work you want to create.
The most useful learning since setting up a business has probably been time management and figuring out how to balance costs without sacrificing the vision I have for a piece, I would say.
The desginers to know
I’d love a coat from The Landskein. They have some gorgeous long wool coats that I could see myself living in! I bought a navy venetian wool Simone Rocha blazer from a sample sale she had. It’s really simple with just a little tie detail at the front, but the fabric is beautiful and the jacket is really well-constructed. I actually ended up wearing it to my graduation in November!
I’ve recently started following Quentin Estève’s Instagram. He’s a modeliste for Balenciaga Haute Couture, and I love his posts about the making of some of the pieces from the couture shows. I’m absolutely fascinated by structure and how these master craftspeople create form and shape. I also adore Demna’s couture work, so getting to see high quality photos of pieces like that is almost pornographic for me.
I also love Steven Philip’s Instagram. He owns a lot of amazing archive pieces from designers like Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, and Yohji Yamamoto. It’s so incredible to be able to see really high quality photos of pieces that tend to just exist as blurry runway photos, so I’m always really intrigued by what he posts.
Simone Rocha was one of the first designers that I really fell in love with, especially her collections from 2021-2023. While aesthetically my work currently differs from hers a lot, she’ll always hold a special place in my heart.
On a personal level my internships with both Helen Cody and Michael Stewart of Standing Ground were hugely influential to my development as a fashion designer. Helen and her team produce really immaculately constructed garments, and learning under them was a really foundational experience for me and my work. It totally opened my eyes to the power of really beautifully made things. Helen herself has also been an amazing mentor to me since, I’ve turned to her for advice many, many times!
Interning at Standing Ground was also such a fantastic experience. Michael was so willing to share experience, advice, and knowledge. I think he has a very strong vision, and his attention to cut and detail is just spectacular. I found interning there really inspiring. It influenced me in a lot of ways, and made me think about design in a way I hadn’t before. It was an amazing opportunity to work on his SS 2025 collection for London Fashion week, especially because each of the pieces were really considered, and made to a really high level.
The legacy
I think my proudest moment so far has just been seeing people have a positive reaction to the pieces I’ve made. My work isn’t for everyone, but from what I’ve experienced so far, the people who enjoy it tend to really enjoy it, and that has been really fulfilling to get to see and hear.
I’d like my work to be remembered for a dedication to craft, cut and fit. That attention to shape and detail has always been the thesis of my body of work.
If I could have anyone wear my designs it would be Tilda Swinton, I love the way she dresses. It’s such a captivating balance between being sophisticated, but also a little off-kilter. Dressing her would be a total dream come true.
Arca and her experimental electronic music also served as sort of a backing track for most of the creation of my graduate collection, so I’d love to dress her too! Her transhumanist aesthetic and art direction was heavily influential for my designs, so it would be a real full-circle moment for me.
Follow Micháel on Instagram at @micheal_mc_inerney
Photography by Vladimir Akhmatov
Styling by Alein Roche
Makeup Artist: Anastasia Vidussa
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