Donegal tweed takes centre stage: from Dior to Dawson Street

Irish tweed is having a moment, and it is about time. When Jonathan Anderson opened his first Dior show with an Irish tweed suit, the message was clear: this historic textile is not just beautiful, it is modern, relevant, and ready for the world stage.

For too long, we have let this craft sit quietly at home while the Scots celebrated their Harris tweed. That is changing. A revival is building, and it is getting a serious boost from the long-awaited European protected status for Donegal tweed, a cause that Patrick Temple of Magee has championed for over 20 years. The story of the last century of Donegal tweed has just been published in The Story of Textiles by Údarás na Gaeltachta, a timely tribute to the weavers and the landscape that shaped them.

Triona brings Donegal to Dublin's Dawson Street

Next month, Triona from Ardara, the home of Donegal tweed, opens a flagship store on Dublin's Dawson Street. The new building, designed by John Henry Boyle of 21 Spaces, sits beside Joe and Juice and promises to bring more than just cloth to the capital.

Kieran Mulhern of Triona puts it simply:

“We want to bring as much of Donegal as possible to Dublin, including its hospitality.”

Dublin has been on his mind for a few years now.

“We like it because it gets a lot of visitors as well as locals, and Dawson Street is slower paced than Grafton Street, and more relaxed,”

he says.

The tweeds, mostly suiting, are woven by John Hanly in Tipperary. But Kieran's own father, Denis, who started the business with his wife Ann in 1984, is a fifth generation weaver. The Triona fan list reads like a who's who: Sarah Jessica Parker bought one of their Faye coats, which became a best seller, and Anne Hathaway, whose mother is from Letterkenny, owns several pieces from the collection designed by Emma Quinn, a graduate of Limerick School of Art and Design. You can see more at trionadesign.com.

Landskein: modern luxury tweeds with a cinematic eye

Designer Anna Guerin is bringing Donegal to Dublin in her own way with the Landskein collection. These are modern luxury tweeds, many woven exclusively by Molloy & Sons of Ardara, and each season builds on the last, a continuing wardrobe with evolving shapes. For winter, the silhouettes are elongated and architectural, grounded in a palette of black, chestnut, burnt red, grey, and grey-blue. The Litero coat, for instance, is made in rich black Irish tweed with multiple button fastenings, while the Kova is a burnt red tweed flecked with ochre fibres.

This season, Guerin styled the collection herself, using the Abbey Theatre's costume archive. Crinolines, sculptural headwear, and trailing silk ribbons add a theatrical layer.

“It's a reminder that clothing, landscape and material carry histories even when the design itself is resolutely contemporary,”

she says.

The photography comes from Maud Chalard, the acclaimed French lifestyle and editorial photographer known for dreamlike images. Her work here offers an international lens on contemporary Irish fashion.

“I liked the idea of placing fashion in a larger, less controlled environment where the landscape could have as much presence as the clothes. The changing weather and vastness of the landscape also gave them a truly cinematic quality,”

Chalard explains.

A cinematic short film by award-winning film-maker Oisín McFarland Smith accompanies the photography.

Where to see and buy Landskein

Anna Guerin will be speaking at Design Week Dublin's “Fashion Conversations with Coffee” this Sunday, September 20th, from 9.30 to 11am at The Marker hotel in Dublin. She will be in conversation with Amanda Bone, alongside Lucy Downes of Sphere One, Christine Murphy, Sharon Hoey, and Eileen Shields. See designweekdublin.com for details.

The Landskein autumn/winter 2026 collection is available at Brown Thomas in Dublin, Cork, and Limerick; Havana in Dublin; Emporium Kalu in Kildare; Les Jumelles in Galway; Blue Fig in Cork; and online at landskein.com.

This is more than a fashion story. It is about pride in our craft, our landscape, and our people. Donegal tweed is not just having a moment; it is claiming its place, at home and abroad.