A spectacular campaign shot in Roundstone, Connemara stars Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Celia Holman Lee, Max Hart, Travy, KhakiKid, Lauren Whelan, Marwa Noelle Ali and Ivana Miličević.
Ireland Fashion Week powered by Visa has just unveiled Coming Home: An Island in Motion, its stunning 2026 campaign, bringing eight leading figures from Irish music, film, sport, fashion and culture together amid the extraordinary Atlantic scenery of Roundstone, Connemara.
The campaign landed on 18 September as the Ireland Fashion Week 2026 hero image was projected at scale onto the Convention Centre, followed by a city-wide OOH rollout taking in 85 Dublin locations.
Captured by internationally celebrated Irish photographer Damian Foxe, the creative piece starts the clock ticking towards Ireland Fashion Week, returning next week, 7 to 12 October 2026, with eight shows and more than 90 designers in a programme taking in established names, new talent, graduates and Ireland’s creative community more broadly.
Fronting 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; musicians Travy and Abdu Huss, known as KhakiKid; digital creator Lauren Whelan; and actor and model Ivana Miličević.
Taken together, the line-up echoes the myriad ways Ireland is lived today. Their personal stories span generations, nations and cultures, though a common feeling of home binds them, along with the role each plays in shaping modern Irish life.
Ashley McDonnell, Founder of Ireland Fashion Week, a driving force behind the campaign’s casting and production, commented: “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 continued: “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.”
Roundstone’s streets, shoreline and working harbour became a striking fashion backdrop for the shoot. Set against Connemara’s dramatic coastline, its traditional boat workshops and weather-beaten buildings, the resulting imagery feels at once familiar and surprising, pairing the raw character of the west of Ireland with the polish and aspiration of an international fashion editorial.
Speaking about her involvement in the campaign and 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.
The actor went on: “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.”
Headlining this year’s Ireland Fashion Week City Hall show is internationally respected Irish designer Sinéad O’Dwyer, whose forward-looking take on inclusivity, representation and inventive pattern-cutting is redrawing contemporary luxury. A recipient of the Zalando Visionary Award and of British Fashion Council NEWGEN backing, she also made the 2025 LVMH Prize semi-finals. Two of her designs are currently held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Celebrated for her progressive handling of inclusivity and representation, O’Dwyer is rethinking contemporary luxury via inventive pattern-cutting and a more generous relationship between body and garment.
Also featuring in the six-day programme are 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 will be filled with Irish labels both established and emerging, while Damhsa, the graduate show, takes more than 40 designers to the RDS. A further 30 designers will be presented by The Irish Edit showroom at 1 Windmill Quarter.
More than 20 international publications are expected to attend this year, alongside prominent creatives, journalists and models, including international model Coco Rocha. Rocha, discovered at 14 while competing at an Irish dance feis, has gone on to walk the runway for fashion houses including Dior, Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Built on community, contrast and celebration, Coming Home is the IFW 2026 campaign created by Artistic Director David Allen. The people and working life of Roundstone run through the story, with the cast representing an Ireland that prizes its heritage yet never stays still.
Dublin-born and London-based, campaign photographer Foxe has been published in international editions of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair, and previously served as Fashion Director at the Financial Times’ HTSI. Returning home to Ireland for the campaign, he brings an intimate feel for the country’s visual identity together with a world-class fashion eye.
Looks were chosen by stylist Brian Conway from among the designers taking part in Ireland Fashion Week 2026, including Paul Costelloe, Sasha Donnellan, Triona, Magee 1866, Louis Copeland, Jack Murphy and Alacoque Daly. Hair came from the Dylan Bradshaw team 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 building businesses, adopting digital commerce and reaching new audiences. Ireland Fashion Week is also supported by Tourism Ireland and Dublin City Council, whose backing will count for a great deal in this year’s programme.
A tribute to the Irish landscape, Coming Home simultaneously declares the ambition of Ireland Fashion Week. Irish creativity deserves a showcase with the scale, assurance and production values of any leading international fashion capital.
The Ireland Fashion Week programme for 7 to 12 October 2026 is revealed
Wednesday, 7 October: Slane Castle hosts the Opening Ceremony
The opening evening ceremony and dinner at Slane Castle in Co. Meath launches Ireland Fashion Week, returning for a second year alongside Marks & Spencers to honour the designers and makers at the very heart of Ireland’s fashion industry, setting up the six-day programme.
Taking the theme Coming Home: An Island in Motion as their frame, Ireland Fashion Week and M&S are connecting the global reach of Irish creativity with a world-class fashion ecosystem here at home. Working with strategic partners, they are supporting the local creative community as it shapes the industry’s next chapter.
As M&S marks 100 years in fashion, the evening will acknowledge the brand’s influence on the Irish market and its role in nurturing some of the biggest fashion leaders this country has given us, from Ireland to London and beyond.
At the core of the opening ceremony lies a common commitment to creativity and craftsmanship, with culinary direction by Irish chef Mark Moriarty and creative styling from Corina Gaffey.
Thursday, 8 October: from Irish Roots to sportswear
The Irish Roots Show at St Helens Hotel in Booterstown, Dublin opens Thursday’s line-up. Later, the Bold Golf Sportswear Show runs that evening at The Exo Building in Dublin’s Docklands.
Friday, 9 October: Sinéad O’Dwyer plus The Irish Edit
At 1WML on Windmill Lane, Dublin 2, The Irish Edit Showroom takes place. Sinéad O’Dwyer then stages her show at Dublin City Hall that evening.
Saturday, 10 October: streetwear, showcases and graduate talent
Saturday starts with the Damhsa Graduate Show in the RDS Concert Hall, putting emerging talent front and centre of the programme.
The Rashhiiid Showcase follows at the Gerard Byrne Gallery on Trinity Street, before the Brother Wolf Streetwear Show rounds off the day 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, Visa Presents: Ireland Fashion Week Talks brings a series of panel discussions to Medley, in the Old Irish Times Building in Dublin city centre.
The MNÁ Fashion Show at The Stapleton in Powerscourt Townhouse Centre brings Sunday to a close.
Monday, 12 October: Mount Juliet and modern heritage
Co. Kilkenny closes out the week with the Aoife McNamara Modern Heritage Show at Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown.
From graduate collections to presentations by long-established labels, the Ireland Fashion Week 2026 programme lets audiences experience the whole breadth of Irish fashion and discover the designers and creatives shaping its future.
For more on Ireland Fashion Week 2026, take a look at https://irelandfashionweek.substack.com/
