Aisling Ahern

We meet architect-turned-milliner, Aisling Ahern from Aisling Ahern Milinery in Dublin.AislingAhern1

Aisling is one of six exhibitors supported by the Dublin City Enterprise Board at this year's Showcase Creative Expo in the RDS (www.showcaseireland.com)

Congratulations on winning the “Milliner of the Year award” and the “Who Wants to be a Milliner title” recently. What impact has winning these awards had on your business?

Winning these awards created a huge amount of momentum for my business and I gained some great exposure for my work. Being involved really ups your profile. Competitions such as these also allowed me access to some wonderful people in the industry, who have gone on to support me and my work.

Has your Masters in Architecture helped shape the way your pieces are designed and made?

My architectural backround really informs the pieces I make. I consider structure and form as key to a sucessful piece. I try and limit the use of ‘fussy’materials like flowers and feathers in favour of strong bold elements. This is most definitely derived from the clean lines of architecture.

What can buyers expect from Aisling Ahern Millinery at Showcase 2014?

I’m really excited about displaying my most recent collection at Showcase. It gives a real sense of my work and each piece conveys my signature style whether in the bold statement pieces or the more softly and subtley in some of the small designs.

I think it’s a really cohesive collection so buyers can ultimately pick and choose pieces at random and still have a great representation of my work. This would result in a collection on their shop floor which reads as one unit.

How have your collections been received internationally?

Thus far I’ve mostly focused on the national market but I have been lucky enough to gain some international press for my work. I’ve had a lot of interest from the UK where I’ve been commended by industry press for my innovative use of material.

My most exicitng press to date was probably a feature in luxury Hong Kong magazine ‘In House’. Their comments mostly revolved around the bold nature of my pieces and the colours I use.

What inspires your work?

I can take inspiration from anything really: art, fashion, nature, even the cityscape. They all have elements which I can extract design from. I suppose I restrict how these elements are represented in my work through my innate desire for overal simplicity. Having a constraint like that of minimalism allows me to extract inspiration from a variety of places yet keeps the resulting pieces cohesive.

What part of your business do you feel you most excel at?

For me it’s design. I think the most creative people enjoy the design element of work over the practical business issues. I also quite enjoy selling my product and showcasing it. I am passionate about what I make and I think people can sense that.

Have you encountered any major obstacles along the way?  

I’m completely self taught, so when I started out I was quite isolated and found it difficult to access the industry. I definitely struggled initially as I had no contacts.
Fashion can be quite a closed circle, but fortunately I met some great people, mostly through chance, who have offered me opportunities and advice which was greatly needed!

What kind of supports have the Dublin City Enterprise Board given you?

Showcase is definitely a door that has been opened for me through Dublin City Enterprise Board (DCEB). To have access to some of the buyers which will attend could have some fantastic results for me. It’s not something I would have necessarily been able to do independently. They’ve also provided some great mentoring in the run up to the event.

Have you learned any important lessons since starting up?  

I think structure is something that’s incredibly important. I started making hats as a hobby and I’ve defintitely struggled to make the shift from designing for pleasure to designing for a living. That shift can really only be made by putting quite a strict structure in place. As in any business, it is difficult to move from one to the other so I’m still competing with that to some extent.

I’ve also learned how important it is to put yourself forward and engage with everyone you can. Word of mouth is, in my opinion, is the best marketing tool and it’s only through exposing yourself that you can gain this exposure.


What is the biggest decision you have had to make since starting up your business?

I only finished my architecture masters in May 2013 and it was at this point that my business was thriving and I had quite a lot of momentum behind me. I hadn’t planned on being a milliner but with such success up to that point I felt I owed it to myself and my work and give it my all and do it full-time. It’s not necessarily the easiest route I could have chosen!


What advice would you have for anyone wanting to start up a fashion business in 2014?

I would say put yourself forward for anything (within reason!) and make contact with as many people as you can. I was always told “the worst they can say is no” and it’s very true!


What person working in the fashion business do you admire most and why?

I have such admiration for Orla Kiely. She built her brand from the ground up and has turned it into a serious empire. She also started in hats so I suppose there’s some aspirations there to someday have success like that.


Our thanks to Aisling Ahern for taking part in this issue. For more information on Aisling’s pieces, please visit www.aislingahern.com

Aisling will be at stand number A304 in the Shelbourne Hall at this year's Showcase event in the RDS, Dublin. She is one of six exhibitors supported by the Dublin City Enterprise Board.

Showcase, which is open to buyers from the 19th - 22nd of January, is organised by the Crafts Council of Ireland and promoted internationally by Enterprise Ireland.

For more information, please visit www.showcaseireland.com