It's no secret that luxury fashion has a sizing problem. From the high street to high fashion, most stores are perpetrators of discriminatory sizing with limited offerings. Sinéad O'Dwyer wants to change things with a democratic approach encompassing more body types than the runway has ever seen.
The Irish fashion designer presented her spring/summer 2025 collection at a verdant, harbour-front public garden during Copenhagen Fashion Week on August 7. There were mid- and plus-sized models on the catwalk, cast from agencies and on the streets of Copenhagen. Her sister Katie, her wife, the Danish photographer Ottillie Landmark, and her wife's grandmother made an appearance too.
Blind model and broadcaster Lucy Edwards walked the show with her guide dog. It is a stark contrast to the casting choices at other fashion shows. More importantly, it's not just for show, it's for sale.
"This is the largest show we've done to date and the most confident I've felt in terms of preparation," said O'Dwyer ahead of the show. For O'Dwyer, the objective was simple: introduce new elements to her ever-evolving design process while developing and improving the signatures on which she is basing her brand. The London-based designer expanded on her signature body-sculpting silhouettes that accentuate and celebrate the beauty of the female form.
Within that, she explores the shibari, the Japanese art of rope tying, with intricately woven fabrics. Here, they inform harnesses with short sleeves, mini skirts with flirtatious frills, and her eponymous fitted shirts. The designs create a tension between the erotic and appropriateness that feels transgressive.
O'Dwyer's upbringing in rural Ireland is felt in shirting, knitwear, and tailoring, referencing Catholic school uniforms, with each category enriched with a sensual contemporary verve. Meanwhile, a new footwear collaboration with Japanese brand Grounds was inspired by Irish dancing shoes. In a new experiment, she inaugurates denim,.
.. Paul McLauchlan.
