Staying true to her jeans

The 25-year-old from Kildare is the only young Irish designer to have been selected to appear on Project Catwalk, the British TV show hosted by Kelly Osbourne in which young designers compete against each other and are judged by a panel of industry experts. Not content with being a reality TV star, Miss Bourke has since gone on to design Lynn Kelly’s winning Miss Universe Ireland dress.
“The competition made me realise what I’m capable of. I used to think that there would be no point in me trying to make a new dress to wear this weekend because there isn’t enough time, but in reality even if you only have a few hours you can do it.”
Fionnuala graduated from the Limerick School of Art and Design in 2006 and was a finalist in both the Persil Young Designer Of The Year and the UCD Young Designer Of The Year competitions. She hasn't abandoned her student ways yet.
“I’m lucky because I work in retail so I get a good discount. Topshop and River Island prices are quite affordable. I don’t feel the need to go any dearer on clothes unless it's for an occasion.”
Fionnuala describes herself as a mainstream fashion girl and this reflects in her style.
“I’m quite relaxed in my personal style. In my design style I'm more adventurous, and if I had the balls I’d wear that every day. During the show I did become more image conscious – but that was partly due to being on television and partly due to being in London. London is a lot more image conscious than Dublin. Everyone is hungry for style, hungry for the next big thing. They wear things there that if they wore on the streets of Dublin, people would point and laugh.”
Certainly nobody will be laughing at Fionnuala today: she oozes style for her Hot Press shoot. In the main picture she’s wearing a raspberry stretch dress and a light brown trenchcoat, equipped with detachable hood, which she designed herself. Her most prized pieces include the sheer blouse and red jacket, also pictured.
“I chose this red jacket, with a draped collar, I guess it has elements of a hoodie too. I like it because it's young and contemporary; I like things that are fresh, almost street. The sheer blouse creates a contrast of the two very different aesthetics. I love this look: a very feminine blouse teamed with a funkier piece. I also wore my jeans because I feel I have to stay true to my jeans! If I was wearing a dress and tights I'd feel very strange. I like a harder edge.”
She might look great today but I can’t help wonder do even high flying fashion designers make fashion mistakes?
“Looking back on the show, I cringe at some of the things I wore. We didn’t even have time to get dressed in the morning, so literally you got up and threw something on. The outfit I got eliminated in was a spaghetti string top, jeans and high heels. I haven’t worn it again. I looked terrible in them!”
So what does the future hold for Ireland’s answer to Gok Wan?
“I would love to try everything. I’m interested in fashion writing but I'm kept busy with my clothing line at the minute.”
Fionnuala’s collection “Mo Éadaí” is currently available from Lara Boutique on Dame Lane and she hopes to launch a line of dresses later in the year called, yeah, you guessed it: “Mo Gúna.”

Fionnuala wears:
DRESS: Raspberry stretch dress, from her own range, €80
COAT: Light brown trenchcoat with detachable hood, from her own range, €135
BLOUSE: Sheer cream blouse with leopard print, from her own range, €65
JACKET: Red satin bomber jacket, from her own range, €95
JEANS: Topshop, €60
SHOES: Metallic gladiator heels, €84