For Autumn Winter 2024, we turn again to Inis Meáin’s elemental nature for endless inspiration – this time to the linear and mosaic patterns in its karstic limestone landscape for our Ridges and Walls Collection. Influenced by the raised, ridge beds for potato growing, and the deep grykes cross-hatching the limestone pavements, we have used a bold, linear rib to design a variety of novel styles, including a contemporary and lightweight Ridge Aran Sweater range.

Criss-crossing the whole island are Claíochaí, or Stone Walls – inspiring favourite patterns, available for the first time in a lighter Cashmere/Merino weight, and fresh variations – combining chunky sweater styling with versatile wearability. The newly developed and intriguing Fíodóir, or Weaver stitch, also emulates the mosaic patterns of the stone walls in a striking combination of knitting and weaving. This intricate stitch uses a base Donegal fleck yarn, and 3 contrasting colours for the floating weave. Available in a relaxed-fit Button Vest and Cardigan as well as a showstopping, oversized Scarf, Fíodóir reflects the long history of both weaving and knitting on the Aran Islands. Distinguished new Outerwear pieces including a smart Town Jacket, a relaxed Shawl Collar Car Coat, an innovative range of Outerwear Vests and fresh, new Cardigans, all offer exciting combinations for original layered looks.

In the much-loved Baby Alpaca and Silk range, the Seafoam stitch creates beautifully textured sweaters in contrasting, tonal and solid variations. Knitting with only the finest yarns from heritage producers, we have added a special slub yarn in 100% super-premium Cashmere, as well as vibrant, new colourways throughout the Collection. Designed, made and hand-finished in our Aran Islands workshop.

Celebrating an island of beauty and history, our Spring/ Summer 24 collection pays homage to the impressive maze of iconic dry limestone walls on Inis Meáin. An ancient craft and vital skill, the Aran Islands have been cultivated for four thousand years, carved into small plots by these dry-stone walls. Each stone was placed exactly where it should be, each wall whispering a story of family, land and the meticulous labour of generations of islanders. In the fields, shelter walls were made by heaping stones to protect animals from wind and rain. In the absence of metal gates, smaller stones were arranged in piles, and removed and replaced as needed to prevent cows and sheep from straying. Both utilitarian and enchanting, the ubiquitous dry-stone walls are the seams in the fabric of island life.

New for S/S24, our Claíochaí line, the local name for these walls, has been expanded to include two new versions of our Claíochaí sweater: Claíochaí Móra, and Claíochaí Beaga and the Wallbuilder’s Jacket. The Claíochaí range is inspired by the elegant, repetitive variety of our ancient dry- stone walls, created using a range of popular island stitches including plated moss, plated moss rib, plated caterpillar, plated brick, and embossed leaf stitch.

The elemental nature of Inis Meáin is captured in the play of light and shadow on the maze of these stone walls which blend into the ever-shifting horizon of sky and sea. The skies are vast here, in the distance often merging into the blue line of water, or grey line of the land – the distinction between the two elusive and fluid. S/S24 captures this in the striking colour combinations of our Linen Marls and our new colour blended Bun na Spéire line. Literally meaning the bottom of the sky – a beautiful way to express the mélange shades of endless island walls stretching into distant panoramic horizons.

For generations of Islanders,an Chuairtwas synonymous with rest and companionship in the homes of Inis Meáin. Literally meaning ‘the visit’,an Chuairtwas both practical and social. People gathered together, pulling their stools close to the warmth of the fireside, to tell stories and talk over matters of farming, fishing, and the produce they were growing for market. Inspired by the warmth and easy conviviality ofan Chuairt, our Autumn / Winter 2023 collection features beautiful additions to our relaxed styles, including new, generously-shaped versions of our Relaxed V Cardigan, and our much-loved Beairtíní Stitch Sweater, known for its strength and stability. Two classics, the Farmer’s Jacket and Carpenter’s Jacket, have also been reshaped with a generous fit for additional comfort. In collaboration with our favoured yarn suppler, Italian heritage producerFilati Biagioli Modesto, the Cashmere in our blends has increased to 30%, ensuring lightweight warmth with an even softer handle. We are also introducing the boatbuilder and our classic Inis Meáin crew neck in ultra luxurious 100% Donegal Cashmere.

Introducing the Island linen collection. For Spring/Summer 2023 we have created a collection completely composed of linen.

One of the oldest textile fabrics in the world, linen was widely used in the Aran Islands until the middle of the nineteenth century. The 1821 census shows the Island had as many flax spinners as wool spinners. Local fields and gardens still bear witness to this heritage with names such as Garraí an Lín (the flax garden) and Loch an Lín (the flax lake). We are honouring this tradition with a new linen collection, inspired by the fresh colours of spring and summer on the Island, including the neutral tones of our limestone paths, the rich colours of sunset, and the vivid hues of the Island’s natural flora and fauna. We planted a flax garden outside our studio so that we could enjoy the flowers’ vivid blue colour all summer long.

European Masters of Linen quality guarantees European linen of the highest standard, sustainable production methods, and traceability from field to yarn to fabric. Linen is a remarkably versatile yarn (its species name Linum utisatissimum means ‘most useful’) which drapes perfectly. With a dry, soft handle, its light weight makes linen the perfect choice for the warmer months.

Our much-loved patented Aran pattern is available in 100% linen for the first time in Spring/Summer 2023, as is the Claíochaí stonewall style. Each piece in the Island linen collection is our own unique design, made and hand-finished with pride in our Aran Islands workshop.

Inis Meáin is one of the Aran Islands that are strewn across the mouth of Galway Bay off the west coast of Ireland. A terraced slab of limestone no more than 3 miles across, it lies 30 miles out to sea and supports 200 inhabitants.

Story

For centuries, the fishermen’s garments have been knitted by the women of the island. Knitting was just one of a number of skills that islanders had to learn and to master, to create a way of living in a very inhospitable place.

Survival depended on dexterity and skill which bred a fierce independence which in turn inspired an ascetic way of life and a sensitivity, a feeling for quality which was expressed in the products of the islanders’ toil.

The fabrics, the stone walls, the houses, the tiny gardens and the fishing boat or currach and of course the clothes and knitting. It is this tradition that inspires the clothes we make in Inis Meáin. We are constantly delving into the island’s rich knitting traditions to find and reinterpret old stitches in new ways.

Craft

The new styles are knitted in the finest yarns – Wool, Cashmere, Baby Alpaca, Linen, Silk etc. sourced from the finest mills in Europe and South America. Subtle colours, inspired by land and sea, which reflect the landscape and seasons.

From this island, the Inis Meáin range is exported all over the world. All of our clothes bear the symbol of the upturned currach. The currach is the islanders’ fishing boat or canoe, made from tarred canvas stretched across a wooden frame. There is no natural protection from the Atlantic, so the fishermen must carry their craft up from the shore after every voyage.

Go maire tú fada chun é a chaitheamh
MAY YOU LIVE LONG TO WEAR IT