Limerick fashion designer Aoife McNamara talks about her revolutionary clothes The Irish Times

Since launching her brand five years ago, Limerick-based Aoife McNamara has become a pioneer in Ireland on the issue of sustainability in fashion.

An energetic lover of the outdoors and always drawn to nature, which continues to inspire her collections, her awareness of the environmental impact of fashion guides her work and ethics.

Last year it became Ireland's first B Corp (Benefit Corporation) fashion brand, an international validation of its efforts, joining clothing brands such as Patagonia, Finisterre and Eileen Fisher.

BCorp is a non-profit network whose mission is to promote business as a force for good, meeting high standards of environmental and social performance and responsibility.

I wanted to get [that recognition] “It took a year, a lot of investment, time and money, and it was difficult,” McNamara says when we meet in Dublin. “I was proud to get it because sustainability certification is at the heart of what we do.”

McNamaras collections feature Irish tweed, wool and linen as well as Cupro (made from cotton waste) and Pyratex (luxury knitwear made from plant-based, recycled or biodegradable fibres).

The day we met her, she was wearing a grey and white striped tweed trouser suit, the tweed specially woven to her Burren design by Hanly & Co in Tipperary, with whom she now collaborates regularly, and the jacket featuring her signature puffed sleeves.

A graduate of Limerick School of Art and Design, McNamara grew up in Limerick and spent her summer holidays by the sea in Kilkee. It was in this love of nature and feeling at home by the sea that the sustainability aspect came into play, she says. I wanted to start a brand that would make a difference.

In 2018, McNamara interned while studying at Marc Jacobs in New York. Back home, her first job was designing a uniform and scarves for real estate agency IPUT, which paved the way for her debut collection, She's A Dream, a five-piece collection made from Irish fabrics inspired by Irish sunsets, with playful patterns influenced by elements of the Victorian dress and details, including ruffles and puffed sleeves.

The following year, McNamara won a scholarship from Cobalt Fashions Innovation Lab in Silicon Valley to do an entrepreneurship course in the US. Things moved quickly when she returned to Ireland, where she launched a website and sold online, followed by a two-week pop-up in Kildare Village, where she gained valuable retail experience.

You learned about the fit of clothes, how customers try on clothes, what colors they like, she says, her best-seller being a fitted navy top with puffed sleeves.

Four years ago she secured a lease on her flagship store in Adare, a thatched cottage where her main customers are Adare Manor shoppers and Dubliners travelling to Kerry.

Each collection begins with sketches taken from nature. Her current collection, called Remember, consists of 18 luxe pieces: blazers, coats, dresses, vests and blouses with standout details: exaggerated sleeves, bows and intricate ties.

Her wildflower waistcoat, for example, is trimmed with ribbons and lined with Irish linen from McNutt in Donegal or Emblem Weavers in Wexford. There are corsets, wide-leg trousers, bell-sleeved linen dresses and elaborate jackets with oversized pleated and gathered sleeves.

As part of its zero waste policy, all leftover materials are reused and transformed into accessories. A collection of Reimagine cushions in six colourways designed from samples and surplus materials is available in its Adare shop.

In collaboration with Ballymaloe House Hotel, she has organised an ambitious rewilding retreat at the end of August, because to be a conscious consumer you need to have a conscious mindset and this course aims to help people raise questions about sustainability and its connection to nature, she says.

In January, she took on a new challenge by taking part in an expedition to climb Kilimanjaro, a 12-day event in association with Earths Edge, a Wicklow-based trekking company, also certified by BCorp, which puts environmental and social responsibility at the forefront of its operations.

She divides her time between her shop in Adare and Lahinch in County Clare, where she lives with her boyfriend Bernard Cahill, a surfer who occasionally appears in her Instagram posts.

Although her collection is modelled here by Pat Kane, Lara Gillespie and Emma Dabiri, McNamara is her own best advertisement for the clothes she designs and always manages to bring a fresh look, which she attributes to her sister Fiona who runs a hair salon in Limerick.

Prices for her collection start at $150 for a pink Aran sweater, $165 for a wildflower vest and $295 for a cream confetti dress, up to $400 for an Irish tweed blazer.

Visit www.aoifemacnamara.com