Now in its 14th year, BT Create is an ambitious showcase of up-and-coming Irish creative design, with a varied selection of new brands across fashion, homewear, footwear and more.
The dazzling event launched in store on 3 July, and brought together some of the country's most impressive designers and stylists.
FéRí, a slow fashion brand founded by Faye Anna Rochford that draws inspiration from Rochford's love of vintage clothing, was among them. With this in mind, the team use organic materials or deadstock and repurposed fabrics in their pieces.
The feminine designs are notable for their vibrant patterns, which Rochford hand-paints and draws in her studio in Wexford. While last year Rochford presented a rich, autumnal collection, this year she's back with vibrant prints, what she calls the "true DNA of FéRí".
The brand's stunning prints are what set it apart, and Rochford told RTÉ Lifestyle that each one begins as a painting or a drawing. "I'm very much inspired by nature and what's going on around me, I live on a farm in Wexford, but I'm not like, the kind of designer that will study a piece to perfection."
What this creates, then, are flowers that are "slightly mythical", where dandelions and thistles crossover with hydrangeas. "I really paint from the heart, it's really organic and I suppose what I focus on the most is colour and how it looks overall as an abstract floral drawing. So in that sense, there's of course imperfections, it's organic.
"But I love that and when I create digital or repeat prints I can see that throughout the pattern and sometimes I will know that bit was a mistake or ... It just makes each piece more unique."
Vintage plays an important role in the design process, both in terms of appearance and also construction, Rochford says.
"Growing up we had a dressing up box of clothes that I remember as a child that we used to pull out all these random scarves and prints and dresses", she says, the memory of which fuels her design process.
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"I love the feeling that that evokes so I always wanted to capture that feeling within my own designs where you don't know what the print is going to be and how you layer it and it's quite eclectic."
Rochford went on to build her own collection of archive and vintage items, studying the construction of each design with a keen appreciation for cuts and finishing details.
That said, her designs are "still focused on contemporary shapes, the shapes are for the woman of today", from bias cut dresses to flowing duster coats. "It's like, taking inspiration from the vintage pieces but bringing it into, definitely, modern living."
Don't be scared to really go for it. Weddings are the opportunities when you can showcase your most beautiful pieces, like, get them out of the wardrobe and wear them. With F pieces, they are slightly a bit more [of an] investment, some of them are longer length", though as she showed on the day herself, they can be styled with cowboy boots for a more relaxed look.
"I definitely want them to be worn", she says, rather than only saved for special occasions.
When it comes to being sustainable in buying for weddings, she suggests swapping items with friends and making sure that what you're buying is something you truly love, because then it'll definitely be worn time and again.
"I think it's just like, following your heart and not being scared to embrace colour and prints and have fun with it.
