My name is Aoife Mullane and I am 25 years old. I live in Bray Co Wicklow. I recently graduated from studying printed textiles in the National College of Art and Design.

I am currently in the process of setting up my own Textiles brand. I worked really hard on my final year collection and designed a range that I was really proud of. Some of my textiles were then featured in an exhibition in Brown Thomas called CREATE. This is where it really all began!

I have had a great reaction to my collection and I have found there is a real market for high end and bespoke textiles for use in both residential builds as well as corporate architecture.

My work is deeply rooted in my everyday observations from my natural surroundings- the sea, the garden, the vegetable patch and the farmers market.

My creativity comes from foraging and discovering organic patterns and interesting color combinations found in nature. I use a lot of metallic within my work- this is inspired by the flecks of aluminum I observed while exploring pebbles and rocks.

There has been a real trend towards authenticity of design. People are now navigating towards products that are more about quality rather than quantity- and this is definitely my design philosophy!

I use a combination of natural fabrics – such as silks, wools and linens and I design site-specific textiles according to the clients colour/ style and space preferences.

My textiles are designed to be placed in a space that ideally uses natural raw materials such as wood, marble, slate and copper – the textiles then become the key focus and have space to breathe.

I use a lot of hand rendered process that give my fabrics an authentic feel. High-end processes such as foiling and metallic give them a luxurious and unique edge.

I was named the national winner of the Society of Dyers and Colorists 2015, I then traveled over to London in November to compete against the other finalist from over 12 different countries and I was named the overall international winner for my use of color within textiles.

The judging panel included Dame Zandra Rhodes and it was such an amazing surreal experience. I was recently featured in the Irish Times as the textiles one to watch for 2016, which felt really great.

2016- onwards and upwards!