Ciaran Gormley Crowned Young Designer of the Year at Dublin Fashion Festival 2014

Remember this name, he's officially one to watch! Ciaran Gormley was crowned the 2014 Dublin Fashion Festival Young Designer of the Year last night. Hosted by two of Ireland’s leading commentators, stylists and designers, Sonya Lennon and Brendan Courtney of Lennon Courtney, the Young Designer of the Year fashion show showcased pieces from 12 of Ireland’s leading up-and-coming designers. The judging panel tasked with choosing the most creative and innovative design included fashion editor, Bairbre Power; renowned fashion photographer, Barry McCall; TV3 Xpose producer, Debbie O’ Donnell; Aisling Kilduff, owner of the Design Centre; Stacey O’Donnell, head of personal shopping at Brown Thomas and Deirdre Devaney, ladies fashion director at Arnotts. The judges unanimously chose Ciaran as the winner for his exquisite design and impeccable craftsmanship. Ciaran’s electric blue knitted gown stood out as the perfect ode to intricate Irish design, trailing in the footsteps of fashion greats Elena Keogh and Tim Ryan by reinventing traditional Irish knitwear with a spectacular modern twist. Ciaran received prizes including a fashion portfolio shoot with Barry McCall and cutting edge gadgets from Microsoft Mobile devices including the Lumia 1020 with 41mp camera and Carl Zeiss lens. The other 11 designers who showcased work on the night included: v  Sophie Wallace from Dublin who is specialising in embroidery in the textile design course at NCAD v  Claire McElduff from Omagh who is also from the textile, art and design with fashion course at the University of Ulster v  Sookyoung Song, originally from South Korea, who  attended the ChongAng Fashion School in Korea before moving to Ireland v  Brid McDonald from Omeath in Louth who is a 3^rd year graduate of the fashion design course at Griffith College v  Geraldine Breen from Kilarney who attends the Mallow College of Design and Tailoring v  Gwen Cunningham from Clontarf in Dublin who is studying fashion design and art history at NCAD v  Cliodhna Scully from Naas, Co. Kildare, who has graduated from the fashion design course in Griffith College v  Caroline Martin from Raheny in Dublin who is in 4^th year at the Limerick School of Art and Design v  Rebecca Kenny a graduate from Colaiste Dhulaigh in fashion design – Rebecca is from Dublin. v  Marian Witcher from Malahide in Dublin who is a graduate of fashion design from the Dublin Institute of Design v  Suzanne Stoker from Roscommon who also attends the Dublin Institute of Design Commenting on the event, Clyde Carroll, festival director, said: “The works of the 12 young Irish designers are of such a high standard and looked so impressive on the catwalk here this evening. I did not envy the judging panel on choosing one overall winner! However, Dublin Fashion Festival is very proud to welcome Ciaran to our young designer fold, along with last year’s winner Claire Lynam. Claire has gone out to do great things and now works as a design assistant at River Island headquarters in London, so I have no doubt that Ciaran will go on to achieve great success. The team at Dublin Fashion Festival looks forward to seeing his fashion career progress over the coming months." For more information and the latest news, including fashion shows, in-store events and booking information visit Dublin Fashion Festival’s website www.dff.ie or follow them on on Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/DublinFashionFestival, or Twitter @DublinFashion, or Instagram DublinFashion_.