Ríon Hannora, an award-winning Irish designer and stylist, has been putting her stamp on the Irish fashion scene.
Ríon has built an impressive career, launching her own label, collaborating with Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY and YSL, showcasing at Copenhagen Fashion Week, and styling for artists including Kate Nash, CMAT and BIIRD.
Fresh from Paris Fashion Week, Ríon is now collaborating with Jameson at All Together Now as part of The Circle by Jameson Music. Here we chat to her about her love for music, Irish fashion and bringing the two together…
Hey Ríon! Talk to us about the growing Irish fashion scene.
I think people are just starting to see the importance of supporting local businesses. I think since COVID, people have really shifted from high streets to more bespoke pieces that last, that are a bit more special and handmade by people that they know or that are part of their community. It‘s a really nice shift to be able to witness. Obviously, coming from a designer as well myself, it’s really nice to see people being so supportive.
People really want to showcase their Irishness now.
Whenever I’m styling, I use all Irish designs. There’s so much talent and artwork coming from Ireland that it’s hard not to use it, because it’s so gorgeous and the quality is so nice. It’s quite a small knit community of Irish designers. I feel like we all know each other. It’s quite beautiful.
Did you always plan to work in fashion?
I did it in college. I studied fashion in NCAD. During COVID, I was working at a coffee shop in Cork. I was making things for friends and family. And it just kind of snowballed, to be honest. I don’t think there was ever a moment where I was like, “Okay, now I’m going to have my own brand.” And I still really love, even though I have my own brand, I still love collaborating. And I think that’s why I’m also a stylist because it can be quite lonely when you’re working for yourself all the time. I have people who come in and out of the studio and clients as well. But being part of a wider production team or something is always really nice. So, yeah, I’m delighted to be working with Jameson at All Together Now.
Talk to us about All Together Now!
I work a lot with musicians anyway. I make a lot of costumes for stage and for music videos and for events, like red carpet events and stuff like that as well. Jameson is obviously very supportive of Irish stylists and Irish design. So I think it makes sense that I will be collaborating with them at the Jameson Circle Stage. I’m going to be styling the festival goers, which is going to be so much fun. It’s actually my idea of the perfect job for me. Just dressing people up in fun clothes and including the Emporium collection.
You mentioned that you work with musicians. Obviously, you’ve worked with CMAT and BIIRD. What is it like working with Irish musicians?
I often try and not take them completely out of what they normally wear. You still want to make people feel comfortable. I normally do a few starting sessions before they go up on stage. It just gets easier and easier the more you work with someone, just because you know what they like and what they don’t like. For the BIIRD girls, each of them would have their own distinctive style. You don’t want to take that away from them either. Being able to introduce people to new silhouettes and new pieces of clothing that maybe they wouldn’t want to wear before is where I land. I always say, “Just try it on and we can take it off afterwards if it’s not up to the vibe or whatever.” I think a lot of the time people are like, “Oh, I didn’t think this would work, I’m actually really happy with it.” Just being able to introduce new pieces of clothing into people’s wardrobes that they wouldn’t have worn before is so nice.
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It must be nice to see your own designs as well as your styling up on stage!
It’s a nice feeling. It honestly is a nice feeling. It’s the whole reason that I do the job. Because I think when I was younger, I was very interested in musical theatre and stuff and did a lot of ballet as a kid. But soon found out that I was actually only just in it for the costumes, to be honest. I didn’t want to be on stage. And I was not good at it at all. Not a good actor or a dancer. But I’d get the costumes and I was just purely in it for that. So this is my way of doing that, but without me being the person who’s on stage. I much prefer to be behind the scenes rather than centre stage. But I feel like all of my clothes are extensions of me in some way as well. So it’s nice for a part of me to be on stage without me being on stage.
What are you most looking forward to about All Together Now?
I’m really looking forward to even seeing all the acts out and all together now that are going to be at Jameson Circle. Again, just kind of the idea of community. A lot of the people, I would know them myself even. So it’s very like an authentic connection between people who are in the audience and people who are on stage. And the Emporium lads who were my neighbours for three years as well, being there, who were creating this collection all around what people would actually wear when going to festivals anyway.
Festival-goers can refresh their look, discover the limited-edition Jameson x Emporium collection and enjoy an ice-cold Jameson RTD at The Circle by Jameson Music at All Together Now