Robyn Lynch is an Irish designer who is unafraid to wear her Irishness on her sleeve. Whereas many Irish designers before her have essentially hidden their roots, Lynch has put them front and centre in every collection. This season was no different. Taking from her younger sister’s career as a professional Irish dancer, her FW24 collection was an ode to family and the Celtic-infused aesthetic of Irish dance.

The most outwardly Irish dance-inspired aspect of the collection were the belts worn over trousers, mimicking garish Irish dance dresses. Lynch worked with John Carey Design, a heritage artisan known for their Irish dance costumes, in these pieces, displaying an appreciation and reverence for these highly stylised pieces of sportswear. It was the mix of high camp and endurance that is found in Irish dance that Lynch wanted to reflect on her textile work – “I loved the contrasting feeling of a rich, abstract devoré against our recycled nylons. So this tension of pragmatic versus decorative became a through line in the process,” she explained in the show notes.

Elsewhere, Aran knits found themselves panelled onto jackets that were made in collaboration with CP Company and Geox provided the shoes, Lynch’s first foray into footwear. A special shoutout must be made to Lynch’s “Feis Mom” hoodie, a tongue-in-cheek piece that skews the Irish Feis scene through the lens of American-style dance moms. You can just see the Feis Mom still clutching to that hoodie twenty-plus years after she got it and who is now forcing her kids through the Feis circuit. It was clever, skewing, and so desirable, like much of Lynch’s output.