Standing in a workhouse, examining the intricate detail of a craft born out of the Great Irish Famine, it seems oddly serendipitous for my conversation with Caterina Coyne to start with emigration. As she speaks, you can hear the tint of a faded English accent despite the long departure from the country in which she was born. Her Irish parents from Connemara and Skibbereen moved to London before returning to Galway with 13 year old Caterina and her siblings in 1992.
We are standing on either side of the black dress that was the inspiration for this meeting in Teach na mBocht (the Poorhouse) in Carrickmacross. The dress in question, of beaded Chantilly lace and floating layers of tulle, also incorporates intricate and delicate pieces of Carrickmacross Lace across the bodice, and was actually from Caterina’s first collection.
Rewind for inspiration
Design was always on the cards for Caterina, but the route was, well, a bit of a jig and a reel.
“I was in my Leaving Cert year in the middle of doing a portfolio course when an opportunity came up to do an audition for Riverdance. I thought I would do it for a year or two.”
But it was 15 years – 10 of which Caterina danced the Riverdance lead – before she would pursue her earlier dream. So after 15 years of glamour, Caterina spent three years commuting on the bus from Carrickmacross, where she lives with her husband, Riverdance musical director Mark Alfred, to the Grafton Academy in Dublin. But don’t feel too sorry for her, with her husband’s work, the couple spend up to six months of the year in Los Angeles.
Metamorphosis
“Dance definitely does influence my designs. I like to think of someone being able to move freely in something they wear of mine, comfortable and unrestricted.”
Initially a couture designer, in the last year Caterina has changed to incorporate a ready-to-wear collection, both evening and bridal. But, couture or off-the-rack, it is all for an event and a beautiful event at that. The genesis of this was when Caterina took the opportunity to dress some of those attending the IFTAs (Irish Film and Television Awards) while still in college.
“Charleigh Bailey (Fair City) was the first to wear one of my pieces on the red carpet. She came to the college looking to wear a dress from an up-and-coming Irish designer. I was only in second year and as we were coming into exams there weren’t really many takers. But I said, ‘Yes I will show you what I can do, I’ll draw up some sketches and if you like it, I will happily make it for you’ and she loved it. From that, I got recognition and was asked to do more pieces.”
Bespoke v ready to wear
The process for a couture dress is a one-on-one consultation, ideas will be discussed and Caterina will sketch those ideas up.
“If the client is happy with the sketch that I show them, they usually trust me to work away. Some people like to be a little more involved, have several fittings and see the progress of how it is going, but most of the time they are happy to let me work away.
“From my bespoke pieces, organically, I get a lot of requests. But for that particular bespoke dress, if I am going to recreate it or put it into production, it would be far too expensive. So I tailor it to something that is a bit more marketable. So maybe a change in the fabric or a slight change in the length.”
Take for example, the Megan dress, which is €420. It has three layers of silk chiffon and a layer of double sided satin in the skirt, which makes it quite an expensive dress to recreate.
The Megan dress has three layers of silk chiffon and a layer of double sided satin in the skirt, which makes it quite an expensive dress to recreate. \ Barry Cronin
“So I made this one, which is very similar in style, but it only has two layers and no covered buttons down the back, so it is a lot more manageable for me to be able to produce.”
We are agreed that the covered buttons do make it though.
“Everything is made in Ireland. It is still very small and to be honest that is the way that I would like to keep it especially in Ireland. I try to turn around as quick as I can on new pieces. I never did an autumn/winter or spring/summer collections. I think, in Ireland anyway, with the weather you can never tell.”
Although Carrickmacross is her present, being closer to her clients could be her future.
In the future, Caterina hopes to open a showroom, ideally in Dublin. \ Barry Cronin
“I am aiming to have my own showroom, preferably in Dublin. People would come on an appointment basis or we would open for some hours during the week where people can come and view the pieces and come back for a consultation later. The ready-to-wear would be available in the shop and the workspace would be there too.”
Talking to the next generation
“Students will often ask me how to get into fashion design. How much is involved is often forgotten. Even trying to find fabrics for a collection is a full-time job and as I like to know where my fabrics are coming from, then add in trying to find fabrics that are sustainable.
“And if you make a piece that sells really well, it must be possible to get rolls of that fabric so that you are not stuck and unable to recreate it. There is a lot going on behind the scenes.
Caterina advises that when starting in fashion design, you need to be willing to invest money from the beginning.\ Barry Cronin
“I don’t want to put anyone off as I love it but I would say, ‘Go to college’. The training I got in the Grafton Academy was really tough. My mum would say to me, ‘You could have trained to be a doctor with all the hours that you are doing’, but if you get through it, it will show that you have the passion and commitment to keep going after college.”
Caterina is clear that you need to invest some money to start.
“It is an especially competitive industry and it is hard to get your name out there and be different. You buy a couple of rolls of your favourite fabrics and start but you need some money behind you, particularly if you want to do your own brand.”
Would she ever think of going wholesale like fellow Monaghan resident Helen Steele, who has a collection in Dunnes Stores? She laughs and replies innocently: “I am open minded to any opportunities that come and if Dunnes Stores wanted a special ready to wear bridal collection, I would be 100% open to that.”
Carrickmacross Lace
“Mark is local here and when we first started dating, I’d see the sign the ‘Home of Carrickmacross Lace’ every time I’d get the bus up and down from Dublin. When I was in college, I always had it in my head that I wanted to do something with the lace gallery.”
Caterina started taking lessons, but the art is extremely time consuming so she reverted to the masters to incorporate the lace into her designs.
“They make them for me so I will design a dress and say, ‘Can I have some lace inserted in the bodice or the hem?’ PJ McCabe is a local designer, he will hand draw out the design, he will give it to the lace makers and they will make the piece of lace.”
Lifestyle adjustment
There was a bit of adjustment for Caterina from 15 years of high levels of physical activity.
“I do spin classes, mostly for my mental health as it (exercise) is something that I have done every day and if you just stopped, it wouldn’t be good.
“I thought, ‘There has to be a spin class in Carrickmacross’ and I found one. And I swear to God – I am not joking – in the middle of the class, they started playing the Riverdance music. I just thought someone was going to jump out with a furry microphone and shout candid camera.”
More details on www.caterinacoyne.com
Carrickmacross
workhouse –
Teach na mBocht
By the time of the Great Famine in 1845, 90% of Irish land had transferred from the Irish to the English following three centuries of plantations, confiscations, evictions, penal laws and colonialism. Although the Irish, now tenants, grew massive quantities of agricultural produce, this was sold to pay rents, they themselves surviving on potatoes. The blight and resulting famine, coupled with the 15,000 UK troops sent to “protect” the thousands of tonnes of other grains, vegetables and animals which were for export, saw the advent of the workhouse. Built to accommodate 500, Carrickmacross Workhouse by 1851 housed 2,000. It was only one of 130 built in Ireland between 1841 and 1843. You applied for admission and if successful, you had to surrender any land before entering. Carrickmacross Workhouse is now restored into a community resource, training and heritage centre.
Further details
carrickmacrossworkhouse.com
Carrickmacross Lace Gallery
Lace making was born out of the famine with landlords introducing it as a way of providing employment for women. Some of these landlords built rows of little houses to accommodate the initiative and a “cottage” industry was born.
Demand from the clergy and the Royals was strong and with plenty eager workers, the Irish soon excelled at the craft with lace makers dotted across the country.
Carrickmacross lace uses paper patterns on organdie and tulle and is characterised by distinctive pops, loops and markings. Although worn most recently by Kate Middleton on the bodice and train of her wedding gown, this was simply following in the footsteps of Queen Victoria and Princess Diana.
The museum is deeply invested in the survival of the craft. Chair of Carrickmacross Lace Elizabeth Daly explained that this year Carrickmacross Lace celebrates 200 years in existence. Celebrations were cancelled unfortunately but the lace gallery reopens on 29 June in their new bigger premises on the square in Carrickmacross. Classes and demonstrations can be organised by contacting the gallery or commission your own piece of Irish history.
Further details at carrickmacrosslace.ie
Read more
Forever young with Riverdance
'You’re the girl from the Farmers Journal?'
Standing in a workhouse, examining the intricate detail of a craft born out of the Great Irish Famine, it seems oddly serendipitous for my conversation with Caterina Coyne to start with emigration. As she speaks, you can hear the tint of a faded English accent despite the long departure from the country in which she was born. Her Irish parents from Connemara and Skibbereen moved to London before returning to Galway with 13 year old Caterina and her siblings in 1992.
We are standing on either side of the black dress that was the inspiration for this meeting in Teach na mBocht (the Poorhouse) in Carrickmacross. The dress in question, of beaded Chantilly lace and floating layers of tulle, also incorporates intricate and delicate pieces of Carrickmacross Lace across the bodice, and was actually from Caterina’s first collection.
Rewind for inspiration
Design was always on the cards for Caterina, but the route was, well, a bit of a jig and a reel.
“I was in my Leaving Cert year in the middle of doing a portfolio course when an opportunity came up to do an audition for Riverdance. I thought I would do it for a year or two.”
But it was 15 years – 10 of which Caterina danced the Riverdance lead – before she would pursue her earlier dream. So after 15 years of glamour, Caterina spent three years commuting on the bus from Carrickmacross, where she lives with her husband, Riverdance musical director Mark Alfred, to the Grafton Academy in Dublin. But don’t feel too sorry for her, with her husband’s work, the couple spend up to six months of the year in Los Angeles.
Metamorphosis
“Dance definitely does influence my designs. I like to think of someone being able to move freely in something they wear of mine, comfortable and unrestricted.”
Initially a couture designer, in the last year Caterina has changed to incorporate a ready-to-wear collection, both evening and bridal. But, couture or off-the-rack, it is all for an event and a beautiful event at that. The genesis of this was when Caterina took the opportunity to dress some of those attending the IFTAs (Irish Film and Television Awards) while still in college.
“Charleigh Bailey (Fair City) was the first to wear one of my pieces on the red carpet. She came to the college looking to wear a dress from an up-and-coming Irish designer. I was only in second year and as we were coming into exams there weren’t really many takers. But I said, ‘Yes I will show you what I can do, I’ll draw up some sketches and if you like it, I will happily make it for you’ and she loved it. From that, I got recognition and was asked to do more pieces.”
Bespoke v ready to wear
The process for a couture dress is a one-on-one consultation, ideas will be discussed and Caterina will sketch those ideas up.
“If the client is happy with the sketch that I show them, they usually trust me to work away. Some people like to be a little more involved, have several fittings and see the progress of how it is going, but most of the time they are happy to let me work away.
“From my bespoke pieces, organically, I get a lot of requests. But for that particular bespoke dress, if I am going to recreate it or put it into production, it would be far too expensive. So I tailor it to something that is a bit more marketable. So maybe a change in the fabric or a slight change in the length.”
Take for example, the Megan dress, which is €420. It has three layers of silk chiffon and a layer of double sided satin in the skirt, which makes it quite an expensive dress to recreate.
The Megan dress has three layers of silk chiffon and a layer of double sided satin in the skirt, which makes it quite an expensive dress to recreate. \ Barry Cronin
“So I made this one, which is very similar in style, but it only has two layers and no covered buttons down the back, so it is a lot more manageable for me to be able to produce.”
We are agreed that the covered buttons do make it though.
“Everything is made in Ireland. It is still very small and to be honest that is the way that I would like to keep it especially in Ireland. I try to turn around as quick as I can on new pieces. I never did an autumn/winter or spring/summer collections. I think, in Ireland anyway, with the weather you can never tell.”
Although Carrickmacross is her present, being closer to her clients could be her future.
In the future, Caterina hopes to open a showroom, ideally in Dublin. \ Barry Cronin
“I am aiming to have my own showroom, preferably in Dublin. People would come on an appointment basis or we would open for some hours during the week where people can come and view the pieces and come back for a consultation later. The ready-to-wear would be available in the shop and the workspace would be there too.”
Talking to the next generation
“Students will often ask me how to get into fashion design. How much is involved is often forgotten. Even trying to find fabrics for a collection is a full-time job and as I like to know where my fabrics are coming from, then add in trying to find fabrics that are sustainable.
“And if you make a piece that sells really well, it must be possible to get rolls of that fabric so that you are not stuck and unable to recreate it. There is a lot going on behind the scenes.
Caterina advises that when starting in fashion design, you need to be willing to invest money from the beginning.\ Barry Cronin
“I don’t want to put anyone off as I love it but I would say, ‘Go to college’. The training I got in the Grafton Academy was really tough. My mum would say to me, ‘You could have trained to be a doctor with all the hours that you are doing’, but if you get through it, it will show that you have the passion and commitment to keep going after college.”
Caterina is clear that you need to invest some money to start.
“It is an especially competitive industry and it is hard to get your name out there and be different. You buy a couple of rolls of your favourite fabrics and start but you need some money behind you, particularly if you want to do your own brand.”
Would she ever think of going wholesale like fellow Monaghan resident Helen Steele, who has a collection in Dunnes Stores? She laughs and replies innocently: “I am open minded to any opportunities that come and if Dunnes Stores wanted a special ready to wear bridal collection, I would be 100% open to that.”
Carrickmacross Lace
“Mark is local here and when we first started dating, I’d see the sign the ‘Home of Carrickmacross Lace’ every time I’d get the bus up and down from Dublin. When I was in college, I always had it in my head that I wanted to do something with the lace gallery.”
Caterina started taking lessons, but the art is extremely time consuming so she reverted to the masters to incorporate the lace into her designs.
“They make them for me so I will design a dress and say, ‘Can I have some lace inserted in the bodice or the hem?’ PJ McCabe is a local designer, he will hand draw out the design, he will give it to the lace makers and they will make the piece of lace.”
Lifestyle adjustment
There was a bit of adjustment for Caterina from 15 years of high levels of physical activity.
“I do spin classes, mostly for my mental health as it (exercise) is something that I have done every day and if you just stopped, it wouldn’t be good.
“I thought, ‘There has to be a spin class in Carrickmacross’ and I found one. And I swear to God – I am not joking – in the middle of the class, they started playing the Riverdance music. I just thought someone was going to jump out with a furry microphone and shout candid camera.”
More details on www.caterinacoyne.com
Carrickmacross
workhouse –
Teach na mBocht
By the time of the Great Famine in 1845, 90% of Irish land had transferred from the Irish to the English following three centuries of plantations, confiscations, evictions, penal laws and colonialism. Although the Irish, now tenants, grew massive quantities of agricultural produce, this was sold to pay rents, they themselves surviving on potatoes. The blight and resulting famine, coupled with the 15,000 UK troops sent to “protect” the thousands of tonnes of other grains, vegetables and animals which were for export, saw the advent of the workhouse. Built to accommodate 500, Carrickmacross Workhouse by 1851 housed 2,000. It was only one of 130 built in Ireland between 1841 and 1843. You applied for admission and if successful, you had to surrender any land before entering. Carrickmacross Workhouse is now restored into a community resource, training and heritage centre.
Further details
carrickmacrossworkhouse.com
Carrickmacross Lace Gallery
Lace making was born out of the famine with landlords introducing it as a way of providing employment for women. Some of these landlords built rows of little houses to accommodate the initiative and a “cottage” industry was born.
Demand from the clergy and the Royals was strong and with plenty eager workers, the Irish soon excelled at the craft with lace makers dotted across the country.
Carrickmacross lace uses paper patterns on organdie and tulle and is characterised by distinctive pops, loops and markings. Although worn most recently by Kate Middleton on the bodice and train of her wedding gown, this was simply following in the footsteps of Queen Victoria and Princess Diana.
The museum is deeply invested in the survival of the craft. Chair of Carrickmacross Lace Elizabeth Daly explained that this year Carrickmacross Lace celebrates 200 years in existence. Celebrations were cancelled unfortunately but the lace gallery reopens on 29 June in their new bigger premises on the square in Carrickmacross. Classes and demonstrations can be organised by contacting the gallery or commission your own piece of Irish history.
Further details at carrickmacrosslace.ie
Read more
Forever young with Riverdance
'You’re the girl from the Farmers Journal?'
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