Aideen Bodkin prepares to launch her new line with Kilkenny
The Galway Races are one of Galway’s top events for the Irish fashion industry, and this year will be
no exception as Kilkenny prepare to launch new brand, Dresses by Aideen Bodkin. Jessica Thompson
talks to Aideen ahead of the big launch.
Aideen Bodkin knew at a very early age that she wanted to be a designer and, thanks to her very supportive parents, she had the opportunity to pursue that career by doing a summer course in the
Grafton Academy. Once she finished in school, she went to NCAD to study fashion and get a degree,
“and I’ve worked in Ireland in the fashion industry ever since,” she says.
Aideen first launched her Aideen Bodkin range in 1999. Renowned for her occasion-wear, she is
synonymous with quality investment garments and ‘mother of the bride’ outfits. Her designs are
classic and elegant with a hint of vintage.
“My inspiration has always been based on mid-century 1950s, 1940s, 1960s design,” she says. “I just
love that era. I love the glamour of it. I love tailoring particularly. I’m very much a 3D person, so I like
working with my hands and I like tailoring my own patterns and getting the fit right. So I always find
that era in design one of the strongest to suit the style that I have.
“So what I like to do is look at some of the classics from then and update them, give them a bit of a
twist, put them in unusual fabrics and make them a lot more current.”
Dresses is an entirely new brand of occasion-wear, designed along with Kilkenny for the 2015 Ladies
Day at the Galway Races and will be exclusively launched at Kilkenny this July. The dresses from this
collection are feminine, flattering and beautifully tailored.
“Kilkenny asked me to come up with a concept that would be for a younger client than we’re dealing
with at the moment. It’s based on having a really nice dress that you can wear to an occasion, but
it’s versatile so you can wear it later on,” Aideen explains.
“It’s a variety of very bright, nice-coloured, patterned dresses and plain dresses that are geared
towards somebody who would be going to the races or parties and things like that. And it’s just got a
younger feel to it, which I’m really excited about because it’s offering a new challenge and it’s
bringing the next generation into the product that we’re selling. You’ll still get the really good quality
fit with just a slightly different handwriting on it.”
Aideen has been working with Kilkenny for 16 years now and is thrilled that she was asked to come
up with this new collection as it shows how supportive the company is to Irish designers.
“If you work in the Irish market like I do and like many of my contemporaries also do, to know your
customer is the most important thing – to know who you’re selling your product to and to try and
make the product suit the person. And I do think it’s highly important that the likes of Kilkenny
support these Irish brands – that they do see the new people coming through. And in a sense they
nurture the younger designers. They’ve always done it. They’ve always picked up on the new people
coming through and helped them get to the next level where they can actually get on,” she says.
“What Kilkenny wanted to do was approach an Irish designer and come up with a product that
would work for Kilkenny but would meet the demands of the market that they’re seeing that isn’t
currently being met.
“So rather than looking for a European or international brand, they approached an Irish designer to
work with them on it and I have to say I was delighted it was me. Irish women designing for Irish
women is always a good thing.”
Dresses by Aideen Bodkin has a range of pretty prom skirts, classic t-shirt blouses, crop jackets and
embossed dresses in bold block colours, floral fabrics and vintage floral prints. The collection will be
available exclusively in the Kilkenny Shop on Nassau Street in Dublin, and the Galway store.
For more information on Aideen’s work, visit aideenbodkin.com.
