A spectacular campaign shot in Roundstone, Connemara, features Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Celia Holman Lee, Max Hart, Travy, KhakiKid, Lauren Whelan, Marwa Noelle Ali and Ivana Miličević.
Coming Home: An Island in Motion, the striking 2026 campaign for Ireland Fashion Week powered by Visa, has just launched, bringing eight leading figures from Irish cinema, music, fashion, sport and culture together before the extraordinary Atlantic vistas of Roundstone, Connemara.
The campaign first appeared on 18 September, the Ireland Fashion Week 2026 hero image beamed in giant format across the Convention Centre, ahead of a city-wide OOH rollout spanning 85 Dublin locations.
Captured by globally celebrated Irish photographer Damian Foxe, the creative project sets the countdown running towards Ireland Fashion Week. The event returns next week, running 7 to 12 October 2026, with eight shows, more than 90 designers and a programme reaching from household names through to rising talent, graduates and Ireland’s wider creative community.
Named in the launch are actor Jamie-Lee O’Donnell; racing driver Max Hart; Irish fashion icon Celia Holman Lee; Ireland Fashion Week Model of the Year Marwa Noelle Ali; the musicians Travy and Abdu Huss, who performs as KhakiKid; digital creator Lauren Whelan; and actor and model Ivana Miličević.
Collectively, the cast reflects the countless ways Ireland is experienced today. Their personal stories span generations, countries and cultures, though what binds them is a common feeling of home and a role in shaping Irish life today.
Ashley McDonnell, Founder of Ireland Fashion Week, a driving force behind the casting and production of the campaign, said: “Coming Home: An Island in Motion is a celebration of Irish creativity in all its forms. We have brought together an extraordinary cast spanning fashion, film, music, sport and culture, dressed in Irish design and photographed against the breathtaking landscape of Roundstone.”
“We wanted this to feel both familiar and unexpected. To capture the Ireland we know and love while showing the confidence, diversity and creative energy shaping the country today. Each person involved brings their own story and interpretation of home, but together they represent an Ireland that is proud of its roots and excited about its future.
McDonnell went on: “Ireland Fashion Week is ultimately about celebrating the remarkable talent we have here and giving people across the country the opportunity to discover, support and take pride in Irish fashion.”
For the shoot, the streets, shoreline and working harbour of Roundstone became a captivating fashion setting. Set among traditional boat workshops, weather-beaten buildings and the dramatic Connemara coast, the images feel familiar and surprising in equal measure, setting the rugged spirit of Ireland’s west against the ambition and polish of a global fashion editorial.
Speaking about her involvement in the campaign and in Ireland Fashion Week 2026, actor Jamie-Lee O’Donnell said: “Fashion has always been a brilliant form of self-expression for me. It can say so much about who you are, where you come from and how you want to present yourself to the world. Ireland is full of fearless, imaginative creatives who deserve to be seen on an international stage.
O’Donnell continued: “Being part of this campaign feels incredibly special. The landscape in Connemara is unmistakably Irish, but the fashion and creative direction show a country that is constantly evolving and redefining itself. I’m genuinely proud to help launch it.”
This year the Ireland Fashion Week City Hall show turns its spotlight towards internationally respected Irish designer Sinéad O’Dwyer, whose boundary-pushing approach to inclusivity, representation and inventive pattern-cutting is recasting luxury for today’s audience. The Zalando Visionary Award and British Fashion Council NEWGEN backing have both come her way, and she made the semi-finals of the 2025 LVMH Prize. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute currently holds two of her pieces. Renowned for her forward-thinking take on representation and inclusivity, O’Dwyer keeps rewriting the codes of modern luxury via inventive pattern-cutting and a much wider dialogue between body and garment.
The six-day programme also features Brother Wolf by Pádraig Whelehn, Mná by Sarah Plunkett Chadwick, Aoife McNamara, Sasha Donnellan, Bold Golf and RASHHIIID. The opening Irish Roots show at St Helen’s gathers Irish labels both long-standing and new, and the RDS welcomes more than 40 designers for the graduate show, Damhsa. A further 30 designers will be presented by The Irish Edit showroom at 1 Windmill Quarter.
This year’s edition expects more than 20 international publications, alongside journalists, models and prominent creatives, as well as international model Coco Rocha. Rocha was spotted at 14 competing in an Irish dance feis, and has gone on to walk for houses such as Dior, Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Conceived by Artistic Director David Allen, Coming Home, the IFW 2026 campaign, is built on community, contrast and celebration. The people and working life of Roundstone thread through the story, and the cast embodies an Ireland that prizes its heritage while refusing to stay still.
Dublin-born and now London-based, Foxe is the photographer behind the campaign. His work has appeared in international editions of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair, and he served previously as Fashion Director of the Financial Times’ HTSI. Returning to Ireland for this project, he brings an intimate feel for the country’s visual identity to a world-class fashion sensibility.
Looks were chosen by stylist Brian Conway from designers taking part in Ireland Fashion Week 2026, among them Paul Costelloe, Sasha Donnellan, Triona, Magee 1866, Louis Copeland, Jack Murphy and Alacoque Daly. The Dylan Bradshaw team created hair using L’Oréal Professionnel, while Lan Nguyen-Grealis led makeup with SOSU Cosmetics.
Returning as title sponsor for 2026, Visa is supporting Irish designers and creative entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses, embracing digital commerce and finding new audiences. Tourism Ireland and Dublin City Council also stand behind Ireland Fashion Week, and their support will prove significant for this year’s programme.
Coming Home honours the Irish landscape while, just as firmly, setting out the ambition of Ireland Fashion Week: Irish creativity deserves to be staged with the scale, assurance and production standards of any major international fashion capital.
Ireland Fashion Week sets out what happens from 7 to 12 October 2026
Wednesday, 7 October: Slane Castle hosts the Opening Ceremony
A ceremonial evening and dinner at Slane Castle in Co. Meath launches Ireland Fashion Week, which teams up for a second year with Marks & Spencers to honour the designers and makers at the core of Ireland’s fashion industry, setting the tone for the six days that follow.
Under the theme Coming Home: An Island in Motion, Ireland Fashion Week and M&S are connecting the global reach of Irish creativity with a world-class fashion ecosystem on home ground. Alongside strategic partners, they are supporting the creative community here in charting the industry’s next direction.
With M&S marking 100 years in fashion, the night will acknowledge the brand’s impact on the Irish market and its role in nurturing some of Ireland’s best-known fashion leaders, from home to London and beyond.
Craftsmanship and creativity, shared values throughout, anchor the opening ceremony, where Irish chef Mark Moriarty oversees the food and Corina Gaffey takes charge of creative styling.
Thursday, 8 October: Sportswear and Irish Roots
Thursday gets under way with the Irish Roots Show at St Helens Hotel in Booterstown, Dublin. The Bold Golf Sportswear Show then follows that evening at The Exo Building in Dublin’s Docklands.
Friday, 9 October: Sinéad O’Dwyer and The Irish Edit
At 1WML on Windmill Lane, Dublin 2, The Irish Edit Showroom opens its doors. Sinéad O’Dwyer stages her show at Dublin City Hall that evening.
Saturday, 10 October: Streetwear, showcases and graduates
Saturday begins with the Damhsa Graduate Show at the RDS Concert Hall, placing new talent at the very front of the schedule.
Next comes the Rashhiiid Showcase at the Gerard Byrne Gallery on Trinity Street, with the Brother Wolf Streetwear Show staged that evening at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Trinity College Dublin.
Sunday, 11 October: MNÁ, conversations and contemporary fashion
Opening Sunday is the Sasha Donnellan Contemporary Show at Dion Rooftop Restaurant, One Central Plaza, on Dame Street.
Throughout the day, panel discussions run at Medley, in the Old Irish Times Building in Dublin city centre, under the banner Visa Presents: Ireland Fashion Week Talks.
Closing out the day, the MNÁ Fashion Show takes place at The Stapleton in Powerscourt Townhouse Centre.
Monday, 12 October: Mount Juliet and modern heritage
Co. Kilkenny closes the week out with the Aoife McNamara Modern Heritage Show at Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown.
From graduate collections to presentations by established designers, Ireland Fashion Week’s 2026 programme asks audiences to experience Irish fashion in its entirety and to discover the designers and creatives shaping what comes next.
For more on Ireland Fashion Week 2026, visit https://irelandfashionweek.substack.com/
