The Hi! Fashion exhibition recently opened at the National Craft Gallery in Kilkenny, celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations between Ireland and Japan. Designers from both countries feature in the exhibition, curated by Gemma A Williams.

Irish names such as Richard Malone, Lainey Keogh, Sybil Mulcahy and Derek Lawlor will have work displayed alongside Japanese designers Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and more.

Leather accessories and body-armour designer Úna Burke from Roscommon is one designer set to be included. A leather cape from Úna’s Retreat collection will feature as part of the exhibition.

Here, she discusses what Irish and Japanese designers have in common, dressing celebrities like Lady Gaga and the importance of celebrating craftsmanship.

How does it feel to be part of the exhibition?

It’s really good I think it is a really groundbreaking exhibition to have in Ireland.

It’s an interesting topic looked at with an interesting perspective as well. I know Gemma, the curator. She’s followed my work from the start, pretty much. It’s really good to be on display alongside the top names of Irish and Japanese fashion. It’s a great honour.

Can you see any similarities between your work and the other designers’?

My work is very much technique-based, and it is utilising traditional and very old methods of manufacturing and craftsmanship. I then use these processes in a very contemporary sort of way, which is I think something several of the other designers included in the exhibition are doing.

We all have our own interpretation of them, of course, which I think is really nice, we all have the same vision and the same ethos of making traditional processes relevant. It’s nice to be among people who have the same way of thinking.

As Irish designers migrate to London, Japanese designers are known to migrate to Paris. Why do you think that’s important to recognise?

It’s funny isn’t it? I guess, you know, being based in Ireland you can think it’s all happening in Japan – but then you learn that they are facing the same issues as us. Maybe that’s what makes you visionary.

You see that you have to take that step, and maybe none of us would be in that position if we didn’t make that step. You push yourself out of your comfort zone, you deliberately expose yourself to a bigger world, to less familiar territories and less familiar cultures.

That exposure is very important for opening up your mind and for making you a better designer in a way, because you have that broader perspective.

Just like some of the Japanese designers, your work has been worn by celebrities like Lady Gaga. What’s that like?

It creates a buzz about your work. They’re in the public eye and therefore it exposes your work to the people that follow them. That is good for business. But I value my normal customers as much as my celebrity customers, and more so in ways, that they’re supporting me in their everyday lives.

Why is it important that fashion be featured at the National Craft Gallery?

I guess what it comes down to in my mind is the amount of time that goes into producing these pieces. In the same way as a painting or a sculpture developing over weeks or months, a lot of these [designs] are a very long time developing – and that’s a process all of these pieces have in common. The process of taking time to master your craft and applying that to pieces that fit as comfortably in an exhibition environment as they do on a catwalk. CL

Hi! Fashion will be open at the National Craft Gallery in Kilkenny until 12 November 2017.