Derry accessories designer Caoimhe Grant's 'August Night' is award-winning

Caoimhe Grant is the talent behind ‘August Night,’ a contemporary luxury handbag and accessories brand that takes inspiration from the visual, literary and lyrical worlds.

At the heart of the collection are ‘softly sculptural silhouettes with distinctive details, gentle twists, knots and generous bows’, with a strong focus on sustainability.

Caoimhe, who is from Marlborough Street, is being rightfully celebrated in the design world and recently won Fashion Accessory Design at this year’s prestigious Irish Design Awards.

That accolade came hot on the heels of her win in the Accessories category in the Irish Made Awards from Irish Country Magazine.

Supporting Irish and local business is at the heart of what Caoimhe does and she also takes inspiration from where she’s from.

Now living in Dublin, she attended college in Limavady before completing Fashion and Design at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.

She then went on to work as a senior designer with John Rocha and later Simone Rocha for more than 18 years, which she ‘absolutely loved’.

Speaking to the ‘Journal’, Caoimhe said she had mused over launching her own accessories brand since 2019.

The quieter times around the Covid pandemic and the large number of small businesses that were being launched in that period then gave Caoimhe ‘the space to really think about it’.

August Night, named in homage to her parents who were both born in the month, was launched in 2021 and Caoimhe’s designs are in high demand across the country and beyond.

With a wealth of experience behind her, she decided to focus on the handbags and accessories route as it fitted with her vision and the details, including bows and twists, are all thoughtfully constructed.

The brand uses a combination of satins and tumbled linen to give each piece a ‘gentle but distinctly contemporary narrative.’

"With clothing, you have a lot of issues with sizing and so on, so it felt more practical to focus on accessories,” said Caoimhe.

"Also, my design influence would be, kind of, couture details and special techniques, like the bow. It took a long time to ‘nail’ that and have it exactly how I wanted it. I like bringing clothing couture details into accessories and it kind of becomes part of your outfit.

"With my designs, you can really dress them up or pare them back and wear with a suit, etcetera.”

August Night itself is a slow fashion brand that prioritises small orders to reduce excess stock and saves unused fabrics for smaller designs, limiting pollution and limiting the impact of fast fashion on the environment.

Accessories are made in small batches and pre-orders to avoid overproduction.

Caoimhe is dedicated to using other Irish brands and businesses. Her linen range is sourced in Banbridge and the collections are produced in Dublin.

For her promotion and social media, her Derry team is Tony and Kayleigh Carlin of Cinematic Sky and she has also used Derry model agency Antipode. Caoimhe also works with Derry make-up artist Del Bardaje and Atelier Hair.

A previous shoot at Lumen Christi College was a collaboration with another Derry designer Hannah Mullan, whose brand is called ‘Tissue.’

A motif on one of the handbags is the Oak Leaf, which was important to both, as a symbol of their heritage.

Many of the fashion shoots take place in local areas across Derry and Donegal, including at The Void, St. Columbs Hall, Shroove, The Playhouse and Lumen Christi.

Caoimhe outlined how she also gets a lot of inspiration from art and sculpture and she ‘lived and breathed art growing up.’ Her mother is Philomena Grant, well-known to many as the art teacher in St. Columb’s College.

Caoimhe recently found a photograph of her mother and father at a dance in the 1970s in Donegal and used the ‘beautiful dress’ her mother was wearing as an inspiration for a fabric.

She was over the moon to win the most recent awards.

"With the Irish Design Awards, you’re being recognised by your peers and also by the industry. One of the judges was the fashion editor for The Irish Times and there were stylists etcetera. Their reviews of the collection were really lovely.

"Also, with the Irish Made Awards, you’re recognised for the work you do to keep it in Ireland. It’s not easy, but it’s really important to do that to put it all back into the economy.”

In the Irish Design Awards, the judges remarked how August Night ‘has a unique aesthetic that fits so well with the brand narrative of drawing inspiration from a personal recollection and family memory – dream-like and romantic and modern’.

They told how they loved ‘the play with oversized bows and ruching and the modernising of traditional materials such as linen’.

They added: “Real rigour in the consideration for social and environmental impact on their manufacturing and material sourcing decisions.

"Especially their transparency when sharing where and how the products are made on their website. Love the community focus and sense of mutual admiration between the team that bring the products to life (pattern cutters, makers etc.).”

If you’d like to check out the August Night collection, you can do so at https://www.augustnight.ie/and follow on social media on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/august_night.ie/?hl=en