When Margaret O'Connor moved home to the Burren to set up her studio, it was her father who inspired one of her most recognisable and popular collections.
"I had a fake fur [coat] and a hat and I came home and my father was like 'you have notions', so I did a whole 'notions' range", the Clare woman told RTÉ Lifestyle. It was one of a number of tongue-in-cheek designs including the statements "culchie", "bold" and "ride" that helped distinguish O'Connor as a fierce force in Irish fashion.
We caught up with her at this year's BT Create, an ambitious showcase of up-and-coming Irish creative design, now running until 20 August in Brown Thomas's Grafton St store, where she launched a jaw-dropping range of statement headpieces, turbans, hats, bags and jewellery.
Describing herself as a "conceptual artist, a milliner, an accessory designer, a DJ" among other roles, it's clear that O'Connor is as ambitious with her career as she is with her personal style, which encompasses lush velvet, standout sequins and statement necklaces in a Celtic-inspired font.
After spending eight years working with hat designers in London, an experience that she said had a "massive impact" on her life, the Clare native moved home and set up shop back in the wilds of the Burren. It didn't take her long to step into the vibrant Irish creative scene.
Pulling inspiration from everything from 1940's and 50's fashion to the punk scene, her designs have been worn by the likes of Kate Moss and Debbie Harry.
It's in stark contrast to her beginnings, she said: "I come from a farming background so I was quite sheltered in terms of art and fashion growing up, but I come from the Burren which is a beautiful landscape. I think that's where all the wild Clare people come from!
"You're so bored and isolated that you have to look around your surroundings to create stuff. As time went on I realised that I had to look into my own self and my own person and my own life."
She straddles art and commercial design, an intentional decision, from collaborations with filmmaker Sonya O'Donoghue on the Irish-language short film RADHA, to custom pieces for Years & Years and Irish musician Ailbhe Reddy, whose latest video was creative directed by O'Connor.
"I'm kind of a mixture of all different elements", she said. "The art keeps me happy and it's fun to do for the fashion shows and all the cool stuff that people might wear to a big event or a music video, or I might collaborate with different visual artists and things like that.
"I like to keep my hands dipped in the art pot from art college but I also like to have work that's accessible for all different people and all different price points and all different classes - really important to me."
She points to another Margaret O'Connor as a major inspiration on that front. The daughter of the Earl of Offaly, this 15th century noblewoman was a liberal and radical in how she assisted the poor and educated women.
Inspired by her commitment to everyday women, O'Connor spent a year during lockdown creating crowns for people who would write letters to her about the fierce women in their lives. She would even send off a crown for free once a week to these "everyday queens".
"I realised I was more excited about real people wearing my hats."
Just because her designs are fabulous doesn't mean they're all expensive, either. "Everyone can be glamorous, it doesn't matter about how much money you have", she said, with necklaces starting at €45 and large headpieces costing €750.
"It can be accessible, and I also think you buy quality rather than quantity. The rose crowns can be made to dress up with a beautiful dress [in] black, or you could have it in two ways, you can either wear it [at] the back or you can turn it around the other way and wear it as more of a crown. you can also wear it to festivals, you can dress it up and dress it down.
"I like my pieces to be quite versatile and not just for one look. If you're buying a statement Margaret O'Connor piece you have it for a long time."
