Materials
Olwen Bourke’s bridal and occasion dresses are created with an ‘earth-friendly’ approach. Her preference is to guide brides and clients towards sustainable, end of role and/or biodegradable fabrics such as silk or EcoVero viscose. Passionate about traditional hand-crafts, she collaborates with irish lace-makers on bespoke LACE PATTERNS created exclusively for her dresses. She aims to preserve the traditions of the women that came before and honour them her her designs for today.
‘Handmade Irish lace is a highly skilled, beautiful art form, steeped in history, that I believe should be protected for future generations, utilized by our fashion industry, and promoted internationally.’
Lace
The laces featured in the Arabella collection were created by hand, using two uniquely different kinds of traditional Irish lacemaking techniques; the Carrickmacross style and the Clones lace style. Carrickmacross is a delicate ‘appliqué’ lace, which is skillfully applied over a mesh base. Clones lace is a very fine crochet
made with fine cotton threads.
Lace was first produced in Ireland in the late 1730’s and became a major Irish export, with up to 20,000 women employed in the industry during the 18th and 19th centuries. Different parts of the country produced distinctive types of lace, including Clones and Carrickmacross (County Monaghan), Borris (County Carlow), Youghal (County Cork) and Limerick lace. After the industrial revolution, the demand for lace made by hand began to decline, as cheaper machine
production methods took over.
Today only a few small creative hubs of lace makers still exist in Ireland. My aim is to continue working with these artisans to develop and promote this
beautiful, traditional craft.
Crafting an Irish lace wedding dress continues the cultural legacy of our craftspeople and can be passed
on for generations to come.
Irish lace makers, Robert French, The Lawrence Photograph Collection, Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland.
Fabrics
The Arabella collection is made entirely from Lenzing Eco Viscose fabrics, which look and feel similar to silks, but are in fact made from wood pulp. The fibers use only renewable wood as raw materials, so that natural resources are not exploited and irresponsible wood sourcing from ancient or
endangered forests is avoided.
Lenzing ensures that wood sourcing complies with FSC® and PEFC certification systems. More than 99% of wood used by the Lenzing Group is either certified to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council® and the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) or inspected in line with these standards.
Being cellulose materials, Lenzing Ecovero fibers naturally break down in the environment after disposal. They have a lower environmental impact than generic viscose, leaving water cleaner - up to 50% less water impact, and leaving air cleaner - up to 50% lower CO as confirmed by the HIGG MSI. They also carry the EU Eco label which is awarded to products and services meeting
high environmental standards throughout their life cycle.