A spectacular campaign shot in Roundstone, Connemara, stars Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Celia Holman Lee, Max Hart, Travy, KhakiKid, Lauren Whelan, Marwa Noelle Ali and Ivana Miličević.
Ireland Fashion Week powered by Visa has unveiled Coming Home: An Island in Motion, its striking 2026 campaign, which gathers eight leading figures from film, music, fashion, sport and culture in Ireland amid the extraordinary Atlantic backdrop of Roundstone, Connemara.
Launch day was 18 September, with the Ireland Fashion Week 2026 hero image beamed in giant format onto the Convention Centre, followed by a city-wide OOH push appearing across 85 Dublin locations.
Captured by Damian Foxe, the Irish photographer of international renown, the creative venture opens the countdown to Ireland Fashion Week, which returns next week, 7 to 12 October 2026, with eight shows and more than 90 designers filling a programme that spans established labels, emerging talent, graduates and Ireland’s broader creative community.
Leading the launch are actor Jamie-Lee O’Donnell; racing driver Max Hart; Irish fashion icon Celia Holman Lee; Marwa Noelle Ali, Ireland Fashion Week Model of the Year; musicians Travy and Abdu Huss, known as KhakiKid; digital creator Lauren Whelan; and actor and model Ivana Miličević.
Taken as a whole, the cast reflects the myriad ways Ireland is experienced now. Their personal stories span generations, nations and cultures, though all of them share a feeling of home and a role in forming Irish life today.
Ashley McDonnell, Founder of Ireland Fashion Week, who played a pivotal role in casting and producing the campaign, said: “Coming Home: An Island in Motion is a celebration of Irish creativity in all its forms. We have brought together an extraordinary cast spanning fashion, film, music, sport and culture, dressed in Irish design and photographed against the breathtaking landscape of Roundstone.”
“We wanted this to feel both familiar and unexpected. To capture the Ireland we know and love while showing the confidence, diversity and creative energy shaping the country today. Each person involved brings their own story and interpretation of home, but together they represent an Ireland that is proud of its roots and excited about its future.
She continued: “Ireland Fashion Week is ultimately about celebrating the remarkable talent we have here and giving people across the country the opportunity to discover, support and take pride in Irish fashion.”
The shoot transformed Roundstone’s shoreline, its streets and its working harbour into a vivid stage for fashion. Time-worn buildings, old boatbuilding sheds and the dramatic Connemara coast surround images that feel at once familiar and surprising, placing the rugged spirit of the Irish west alongside the polish and scale of a global fashion editorial.
On her involvement in the campaign and in Ireland Fashion Week 2026, actor Jamie-Lee O’Donnell said: “Fashion has always been a brilliant form of self-expression for me. It can say so much about who you are, where you come from and how you want to present yourself to the world. Ireland is full of fearless, imaginative creatives who deserve to be seen on an international stage.
She went on: “Being part of this campaign feels incredibly special. The landscape in Connemara is unmistakably Irish, but the fashion and creative direction show a country that is constantly evolving and redefining itself. I’m genuinely proud to help launch it.”
This year’s Ireland Fashion Week City Hall show shines its light on globally respected Irish designer Sinéad O’Dwyer, whose progressive approach to inclusivity, representation and original pattern-cutting is remaking luxury today. The Zalando Visionary Award is hers, along with British Fashion Council NEWGEN backing and a semi-final place in the 2025 LVMH Prize. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute currently holds two of her pieces. Acclaimed for her forward-looking handling of inclusivity and representation, O’Dwyer rethinks modern luxury with inventive cutting and a kinder dialogue between garment and body.
Also included across the six-day programme are Brother Wolf by Pádraig Whelehn, Mná by Sarah Plunkett Chadwick, Aoife McNamara, Sasha Donnellan, Bold Golf and RASHHIIID. The opening Irish Roots show at St Helen’s will present both established and newer Irish labels, while Damhsa, the graduate show, takes more than 40 designers to the RDS. A further 30 designers are lined up for The Irish Edit showroom at 1 Windmill Quarter.
More than 20 international publications are due this year, alongside leading creatives, journalists and models, including international model Coco Rocha. Discovered at 14 while taking part in an Irish dance feis, Rocha has gone on to walk for houses such as Dior, Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Devised by Artistic Director David Allen, the IFW 2026 campaign Coming Home rests on contrast, community and celebration. The people of Roundstone and its working life thread through the whole story, and the cast embodies an Ireland proud of its heritage yet never static.
Foxe, the campaign’s photographer, is Dublin-born and London-based, shooting for international editions of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair, and he previously served as Fashion Director at the Financial Times’ HTSI. Returning home for this assignment, he pairs a globally honed fashion eye with a deeply personal understanding of Ireland’s visual language.
Looks were chosen by stylist Brian Conway from designers participating in Ireland Fashion Week 2026, among them Paul Costelloe, Sasha Donnellan, Triona, Magee 1866, Louis Copeland, Jack Murphy and Alacoque Daly. Hair came from the Dylan Bradshaw team using L’Oréal Professionnel, while makeup was led by Lan Nguyen-Grealis using SOSU Cosmetics.
Returning as title sponsor in 2026, Visa supports Irish designers and creative entrepreneurs in growing businesses, adopting digital commerce and reaching new audiences. Tourism Ireland and Dublin City Council also back Ireland Fashion Week, and that backing will prove vital to this year’s programme.
Coming Home pays tribute to the Irish landscape while simultaneously declaring the ambition of Ireland Fashion Week. Irish creativity deserves to be shown with the same scale, confidence and production quality as any leading international fashion capital.
Programme for 7 to 12 October 2026 revealed by Ireland Fashion Week
Wednesday, 7 October: Slane Castle sets the stage for the Opening Ceremony
Ireland Fashion Week opens with an evening of ceremony and dinner at Slane Castle in Co. Meath, returning for a second year with Marks & Spencers to honour the makers and designers central to Ireland’s fashion industry and to launch the six-day programme.
Under the theme Coming Home: An Island in Motion, Ireland Fashion Week and M&S are connecting Ireland’s worldwide creative influence with a world-class fashion ecosystem at home. Working alongside strategic partners, they are enabling the creative community here to determine the industry’s future.
As M&S marks 100 years in fashion, the night will recognise what the brand has meant to the Irish market and its role in nurturing several of the country’s best known fashion leaders, in Ireland, London and further afield.
The opening ceremony celebrates craftsmanship and creativity together, with Irish chef Mark Moriarty leading the food and Corina Gaffey handling the creative styling.
Thursday, 8 October: Sportswear joins Irish Roots
Thursday’s line-up starts with the Irish Roots Show at St Helens Hotel in Booterstown, Dublin. The Bold Golf Sportswear Show then follows that evening at The Exo Building in Dublin’s Docklands.
Friday, 9 October: Sinéad O’Dwyer and The Irish Edit
The Irish Edit Showroom takes up residence at 1WML on Windmill Lane, Dublin 2. Later that evening, Dublin City Hall hosts the Sinéad O’Dwyer show.
Saturday, 10 October: Streetwear, showcases and graduate talent
The Damhsa Graduate Show in the RDS Concert Hall opens Saturday, placing fresh talent squarely at the programme’s heart.
Next up is the Rashhiiid Showcase at the Gerard Byrne Gallery on Trinity Street, with the Brother Wolf Streetwear Show staged that evening at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Trinity College Dublin.
Sunday, 11 October: MNÁ, talks and contemporary fashion
Opening Sunday is the Sasha Donnellan Contemporary Show at Dion Rooftop Restaurant, One Central Plaza, on Dame Street.
Throughout the day, panel discussions run at Medley, in the Old Irish Times Building in the centre of Dublin, under the banner Visa Presents: Ireland Fashion Week Talks.
The day closes with the MNÁ Fashion Show at The Stapleton in Powerscourt Townhouse Centre.
Monday, 12 October: Mount Juliet and modern heritage
The week finishes in Co. Kilkenny with the Aoife McNamara Modern Heritage Show at Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown.
Spanning graduate collections through to presentations by established names, Ireland Fashion Week’s 2026 programme invites audiences to experience Irish fashion in its entirety and meet the creatives and designers charting its next chapter.
For more detail on Ireland Fashion Week 2026, have a look at https://irelandfashionweek.substack.com/