Clara Salinger, BA (Hons) in Fashion Design
Griffith College was delighted to see Fashion Design graduate Clara Salinger win Design & Crafts Council Ireland Future Makers, Material Award
Clara graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design from Griffith College in 2021 and has since accomplished huge success, completing a 6-month internship with a womenswear fashion company and winning the Material Support at the Design & Crafts Council Ireland Future Makers Award for her graduate collection 'There Was A Time'.
About the collection
Future Makers supports emerging Irish makers with the Design & Crafts Council Ireland. With a total prize fund of €25k, Future Makers is one of the largest funding competitions in Europe. Future Makers is the qualifying competition for the annual RDS Craft Awards which provide awards to makers at a formative stage in their careers. Clara won the Material Support Award under the section Student & Recent Graduates Winners and Recipients 2021 for her collection titled 'There Was A Time', using Irish Linen and Wool.
Her final year project was based on old Catholic Ireland and how much impact the Catholic church had on people's lives and the women of Ireland at that time, as her generation is the first in Ireland to separate themselves from the Catholic Church. Commenting on her work, 'There Was A Time' "is inspired by women especially the ones important in my life and it is also inspired by old Catholic Ireland. My generation is the first generation to separate ourselves from the Catholic Church which had a huge influence on people's life back then. Women were expected to act a certain way and they didn’t have equal rights and male authority had a huge impact on this. A lot has changed for women now and it is empowering to see what women over the many years have fought for."
Clara used feminine shapes and traditional Irish fabrics such as wool and linen to create these artisan pieces. Her entire collection can be found at www.clarastledger.com/