Sonia Reynolds talks Irish design, heritage crafts and STABLE of Ireland’s legacy
STABLE of Ireland’s co-founder Sonia Reynolds first developed the concept over 10 years ago, and over the course of the past decade, the brand has been bridging the gap between the Ireland of days gone by and the Ireland of the future.
My name is Sonia Reynolds, I am the co-founder of STABLE of Ireland, a company that I established with my friend and business partner, Francie Duff.
We first developed the concept for STABLE some years ago, pre-2014. We began our journey with a mission – to champion Irish Linen and tweeds produced here in Ireland. We wanted to create a beautiful platform using these unique fabrics for both wearing and accessorising and for the home. Our focus from the beginning was simple: to do things the ‘STABLE’ way though producing classic and timeless designs.
Our original plan was a pop-up and online shop; however, from a pop-up we did in the Westbury Mall some 10 years ago, this swiftly extended into a bricks and mortar store. It later developed into physical and online stores as we continued to extend collections for both.
Working through different disciplines, this helped us to create a beautiful home and built steady international recognition of what we do. At STABLE, we never compromise on the quality of workmanship, a key factor in what we present to our customers both here and abroad.
The mission
‘The Texture of Life.’ This is about the multifaceted, day-to-day experience of existence in a sustainable way, which encompasses emotions, tangible sensations, relationships, and routines.
Personally, I’ve been working and surrounded by creative people for most of my adult life, and so, for me, it was a natural progression. Needless to say, when we started thinking about STABLE, and the ideas around beautiful Irish-produced fabrics, it became more apparent. Also, from having built relationships with so many great creatives and craftspeople throughout the years, both here and abroad, it seemed the most natural thing to do. To be able to collaborate and present the story through different, fresh eyes, encompasses the beauty and joy of what we do at STABLE.
We take great pride in designing and producing most of our products here in Ireland, from our exclusive collection of Irish linen scarves to selected clothing for him and her and our extensive range of knitwear. We focus on both handknits and machine knits, from table linen to blankets, basketry, wooden products and tapestries. Among our best-selling products are our Aran jumpers, which we ship globally using An Post’s beautiful new Aran jumper stamps. These are available in both our shop and our online store.
The logistics
When we started the company, we began with a small collection. Our first product was our handwoven large scarf (woven by Eddie Doherty in Donegal) and fine weaves, introducing our core linen scarf collection. We started small, as we were only testing the market with our pop-up all self-funded. Such was our success that we managed to grow organically.
The best business advice I’ve gotten has been to know your customer, and the most useful learning since setting up a business has been to trust your gut, test products, slow and grow and know your customer.
The names to know
Joanne Hynes is forever a favourite in my eyes. She is one of the best Irish designers out there, renowned for colour, creativity and pushing boundaries in all that she does. I’m also a huge fan of Colin Burke Irish knitwear and Roisin Gartland leather work.
At the moment, I’m loving Ómós. We are currently collaborating with Cuan Greene and his wonderful team. It’s always so exciting working on such projects, whether it’s commercial or domestic.
Our weaknesses are food and travel social media accounts, there are simply too many to list! In terms of my best fashion purchase, I own a few vintage items which I treasure. I’m a huge lover of Dries Van Noten footwear.
The legacy
Simply working together as a team with talented craftspeople to create such beautiful and considered pieces is wonderful. I think it’s such a luxury to do what you love, and to love what you do. We feel extremely fortunate that we’ve managed to create a wonderful platform to share our love for Irish designs, with everyone who visits our shop and online.
I don’t have one moment – to me I am proud of what we have achieved each and every day. This is magnified when we see customers getting excited in-store and walking out of the shop proudly carrying their STABLE bag.
We want STABLE to be remembered for creating and inspiring and beautiful quality products made in Ireland along with continuing conversations of times passed and leading into the future.
If I could have anyone wear our designs it would be perhaps Tilda Swinton, as I’m a fan of hers!
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