It’s now the final month of Year of Craft 2011 and the calendar of events is still packed full with craft exhibitions, workshops, fairs and much more. Check out http://designerdublin.ie/category/events/
There are lots of pop-up shops, fairs and markets taking place across Ireland in the run up to Christmas – providing great opportunities for you to purchase Irish craft and also to have a great family day out. Through our Give Irish Craft Campaign the Crafts Council of Ireland is encouraging consumers to choose authentic, Irish made craft this Christmas, with beautifully crafted gifts designed and made in Ireland available from €5 – see www.giveirishcraft.com
TheDesignBasket.com launched on Nov 16th with 40+ designers and a product selection ranging from jewellery to ladies’ and men’s accessories, gifts for children and beautiful items for the home. Some of the very exciting designers include Melissa Curry, Celtos Croi and Filip Vanas. Designers are carefully selected to ensure a high quality environment for customers and designers alike. It means customers are guaranteed that when they buy from The Design Basket they are purchasing high quality products from only the best designers in Ireland.
“My vision is to bring Irish contemporary design to the world’s fingertips. There are so many incredibly talented designers & craftspeople throughout Ireland. They are exhibiting at local fairs and selling in boutiques but remain a secret to the online marketplace both within and outside Ireland. We aim to recreate online the excitement and passion often found in quirky little boutiques and craft fairs”. We have created an online space where people can shop for a very unique and special present. Each item has been lovingly created and the customer, whether from here or abroad, can learn all about where in Ireland the item came from and who designed it. It creates a more personalised shopping experience drawing on a deeper connection with the designer of the product.
Often, designers do not have the personal resources to invest in an online business. The Design Basket enables the designers to sell online, but handles the e-commerce, marketing and PR freeing up the designer to focus on their craft. In recent years Ireland has achieved a reputation as a world-class source of contemporary fine craft however there is little online availability of contemporary Irish design for the international market (still largely traditional online Irish shops). The Craft Council of Ireland commissioned an analysis of the Economic Significance and Potential of Irish Craft in Nov 2010. This study reported that 40% of craft purchasers find it hard to locate stockists and that there is potential to increase the sale of Irish craft (domestically and through exports) by €205 million.
Our journey to launch is featuring in a new television series that is part of a major RTE campaign to support Irish jobs. Aired on November 23rd ‘Local Heroes – A Town Fights Back’, followed Sarah Jane as she launched her business in Drogheda. In the programme she is working alongside a team of experts including Senator Fergal Quinn and successful entrepreneur Jerry Kennelly to bring The Design Basket to the international market (available on RTE player).
We look forward to reactions to the diversity in our designer offerings………and hope that you will react like we did – with surprise, wonder, delight and excitement!
We are expanding our designer base on an ongoing basis. If you would like to apply to join our designer collective, please fill out and return the application form at the following link http://www.thedesignbasket.com/sell-with-us.php
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sarah Jane Lynch.
One of the most authentic and spectacular Christmas experiences ever…voted the Best Santa in Ireland in 2010! Wicklow’s Historic Gaol has been transformed into a Victorian Streetscape – delighting the children with crafts and story telling and curious Victorian shop windows to peep into….all on their way to see Santa…
With almost 30 stall holders – Christmas at the Gaol Fair showcases some of the most talented artisan craft & food producers in County Wicklow.
A truly unique venue to find that unique gift this Christmas while supporting the local economy!
Admission is Free to this Fair!
The Wicklow Showcase is a display of businesses from Wicklow Town -
shops, restaurants and businesses have come together to promote Wicklow Town.
Facebook:
Opening times
Every weekend until Christmas
(Christmas at the Gaol Fair)
Fri 4-8pm, Sat 10-6pm, Sun 11-6pm
(Santa)
Fri 4-8pm, Sat 11-6pm, Sun 11-6pm
Other dates (Santa ONLY)
8th, 14th & 15th Dec – 2-8pm (by Appointment)
Christmas Week (Santa ONLY)
19th – 22nd Dec 11-6pm
Directions/Parking
Wicklow’s Historic Gaol is located at the southern end of Wicklow Town – we recommend parking just up from the
Gaol on Killmantin Hill (Killmantin Car Park) or at the seafront at the Black Castle.
By Bus
Regular Bus service from Dublin and Wexford/Rosslare.
* Bus 133 (Wicklow Bus) from Dublin (Busáras, Store St)
* Bus 002 (Wexford Bus) from Rosslare Harbour
* Bus 005 (Waterford Bus) from Waterford (Bus Station, Merchants Quay)
By Train
Wicklow Town on Dublin/Rosslare mainline
Entry
Wheelchair access is limited.
Entry to Santa is from the Main Gaol Entrance
Entry to the Fair is from the Rear Gate of the Gaol
Re-dress, an Irish organisation dedicated to promoting better fashion practices, will officially launch the ‘Made in Ireland’ Retail Swing Tag in The Bailey Bar, South Anne Street on the 29th November, in response to the growing need for support of the Irish fashion sector and to increase the visibility of fashion products that are made in Ireland.
The Swing Tag will carry the ‘Made in Ireland’ logo, allowing designers and retail members to promote fashion items that are produced in Ireland, either in their entirety or partially, to the discerning Irish customer and will be visible in shops from the end of November.
The initiative has already been embraced by stellar figures from the Irish Fashion world including; Heather Finn, Lisa Shawgi, Emma Kate Manley (photo to right), Yvonne Ryan, Eily O Connell, Eoin McDonnagh, and designer Sinéad Doyle, commented on the importance of the Made in Ireland ethos to both Irish Fashion and Irish Trade.
“The Made in Ireland logo is distinctive, clear and will be accompanied by an explanatory website with listings of all participating members, we believe the initiative will encourage the growth and development of better facilities in Irish Fashion. The long-term goal is to enable other fashion and accessory designers to consider partially or completely basing their production or manufacturing in Ireland as a viable option, and we believe the Made in Ireland project will help identify opportunities for growth within the Irish fashion and design industries in both the domestic and export markets” (Photo left: Sinead Doyle collection)
The Made in Ireland project is underpinned by a commitment to better fashion, membership for designers and retailers is based on self- assessment, and will function through an invitation, application and / or referral process, but will be regulated and monitored by Re-dress. Co-Founder Rosie O’Reilly has emphasised the inherent value of the initiative for both the designer and the customer, “The project members will benefit from the MII charter parameters which dictates that membership is exclusively offered to those who achieve best practice standards in their own fields, aspire to provide the highest quality of design, finish, service and presentation in their products, this will ensure the highest standard of accountability within their production facilities including the recognition and application of employment rights and labour standards. We passionately believe that the Made in Ireland Swing Tag fully equips the public with an armoury of information which allows them to make an informed purchase decision, based on their priorities and principles as a fashion consumer”
The use of the made in Ireland logo and branded material will be awarded to members on a product basis. The made in Ireland logo will be prominently displayed by members on all products that achieve the standards set out in the membership criteria and project charter. Products produced by members that do not reach this criteria will not carry the made in Ireland logo.
For more information on the Made in Ireland project, or to download a membership application form, or to simply find out more details on Re-dress and better fashion practices, log onto www.madeinirelandproject.com or follow Re-dress on Facebookwww.facebook.com/re-dress
Project 51 on South William Street in Dublin have made it their mission to make your life a little bit easier this holiday season. On Thursday, 8th of December they are holding a one-day-only 20% off sale which includes work not just from the 15 award winning designers of Project 51, but of 15 other Irish designers, with a particular focus on Irish leatherwork with Una Burke and Garvin de Bruir, who are exhibiting there for the month of December.
“Each designer in our collective was carefully chosen so that we could create a flagship Irish design centre, and since we opened in August we’ve had an amazing response from the public; people really want to buy quality Irish design and they know that we constantly have new work coming out. We also run an exhibition in our gallery space every month; our Mo Style Irish designer menswear exhibition just finished and it was a huge success, some of the proceeds went to the men’s health charity, Movemeber.” says Lisa Ryder, silk scarf designer. “For December our exhibition has been tailored for Christmas gift-buying; including clocks, glass sculpture and handmade jewellery boxes. And we are supporting two more worthy charities this month; Saplings School for Children with Autism and Dogs Trust Ireland…its going to be an exciting month at Project 51!”
Find jewellery, fashion, millinery and bags, as well as Irish-made designer shoes by Tutty’s of Naas.
Visual Artists working in all genres are invited to submit proposals for a permanent outdoor artwork to mark the recent opening of the new Lyric Theatre. The Lyric welcomes, in particular, submissions from up-and-coming artists. Deadline: 5pm, 28th November 2011.
The realised work will be located in the landscaped area at the front of the theatre, on the banks of the River Lagan. It should be innovative, challenging, timeless, fun and sympathetic to the architecture and landscape that surrounds it.
The competition for this art work will be a two stage process. Stage 1 will require outline concept proposals and Stage 2 will require details proposals from those artists who are shortlisted. The total budget for this commission is £30,000 to cover all costs associated with the design, delivery and installation of the art work.
Buttons and Bows Christmas Market last market before Christmas will be held on Sunday 11th December in Guinness Athletic Union, Iveagh Grounds, Crumlin, Dublin 12.
The aim of PIVOT Dublin is to explain, demonstrate and celebrate design’s positive impact on our lives. The PIVOT Dublin website is a vital way of communicating this and to promote collaborations initiated through the World Design Capital project. Dublin has a vibrant design scene creating unique experiences, places, events, products – all captured in PIVOT Dublin. We have much to share but also wish to learn. We are looking for groups and individuals with interesting design stories and perspectives to be guest curators on the PIVOT Dublin site. We are looking for stories at every scale, from every place and of any time.
By becoming a guest curator you will have the opportunity to promote your unique take on design and make new connections. In turn, PIVOT Dublin will grow national and international interest in design in Ireland to a new level.
If you are interested in becoming a PIVOT Dublin guest curator, please send us a pdf containing three case study projects and a one hundred word description of your proposed approach.
As a guest curator to the PIVOT Dublin website you will have use of the
1. Home page banner image
2. Advertising banner space
3. Blog
4. Agenda
Notes.
1. The call for curators is open to any group or individual with an interest and commitment to promoting design.
2. Each guest curator will have use of the website for two weeks.
3. Curators will be required to provide between five and ten blog items for inclusion on the website.
4. There will be twelve guest curators per year.
5. PIVOT Dublin will be responsible for managing and maintaining the uploading of content.
6. PIVOT Dublin will continue to update the agenda for their regular users alongside your own submissions.
7. The comment box at the end of each blog item will be monitored once a day to screen for offensive material or spam.
8. Selection for guest curation will be assessed based on the quality of content proposed and it’s contribution to pivotdublin.com
We are opening a covered market in the LMS Building in the Dublin Docklands. This is a magnificent former railway station building that fronts on to the river Liffey and is withing 1 minutes walking distance from the Convention Centre.
We are actively looking for new stall holders for part of the ground floor and first floor of this building. In particular, we are looking for arts and crafts stall holders.
It’s now the final month of Year of Craft 2011 and the calendar of events is still packed full with craft exhibitions, workshops, fairs and much more. Check out http://designerdublin.ie/category/events/ 
g better fashion practices, will officially launch the ‘Made in Ireland’ Retail Swing Tag in The Bailey Bar, South Anne Street on the 29th November, in response to the growing need for support of the Irish fashion sector and to increase the visibility of fashion products that are made in Ireland.
mbers, we believe the initiative will encourage the growth and development of better facilities in Irish Fashion. The long-term goal is to enable other fashion and accessory designers to consider partially or completely basing their production or manufacturing in Ireland as a viable option, and we believe the Made in Ireland project will help identify opportunities for growth within the Irish fashion and design industries in both the domestic and export markets” (Photo left: Sinead Doyle collection)
Project 51 on South William Street in Dublin have made it their mission to make your life a little bit easier this holiday season. On Thursday, 8th of December they are holding a one-day-only 20% off sale which includes work not just from the 15 award winning designers of Project 51, but of 15 other Irish designers, with a particular focus on Irish leatherwork with Una Burke and Garvin de Bruir, who are exhibiting there for the month of December.
