‘I always believed in fairies when I was wee’ – Fashion designer Annie Leona on taking inspiration from folklore for her new line

The Armagh designer realised the translucent property of linen was ideal for recreating the ethereal look of characters of her childhood

Young Irish designer Annie Leona

Orla Dempsey

“My mother would read Irish folklore to me when I was little,” Annie Leona says. The tales of fairy forts — raised circles surrounded by trees, stones or mushrooms where it’s said fairies have danced — caught her imagination. “I believed in fairies when I was wee. I always thought our folklore was such an interesting part of our culture.”

Now designing her own fashion line, Leona has ripped imagery from the pages of those childhood story books and brought it to life. “When I was little the pictures of fairies in my books always had this ghostly opacity to their clothing and wings. I thought linen was the perfect fabric to recreate that. As it’s a thin, almost-transparent fabric you can change the opacity by layering it and allowing the light to shine through the fabric. The ethereal dawn and dusk piece is a good example of this.”

Ethereal Dusk Blouse, £350; Ethereal Dusk Skirt, £650. Modelled by Aria Moazzen. Photo: Sam Allen.

Leona keeps her inspiration close to home in more ways than one. “My childhood home, in Armagh, was an old tailor’s cottage. My dad had lifted up the carpet and discovered the bolts where the linen loom used to be. It inspired my recent work, The Cottage Collection.”

Leona’s womenswear collection features feminine and romantic clothing made with Irish linen and salvaged linen from an old mill near her house. “There was beautiful old embroidered linen handkerchiefs which were saved by a family friend who was working on the building site of what was the old mill. I’ve used them as collars in my latest collection. They’re really delicate so I had to be careful restoring them.”

Ethereal Dawn Blouse, £350; Ethereal Dawn Skirt, £650. Modelled by Charotte Ballantine. Photo: Sam Allen

There’s inspiration to be found further afield too. “Me and my boyfriend will travel around in a camper van, we love seeing the beautiful scenery Ireland has to offer. My boyfriend’s a photographer so he’ll take scenic photos and I paint them afterwards. Whenever we go to the beach I’ll bring a backpack and collect shells and stones that are funky colours.”

When she was setting up her brand, Leona had a lot of help from her aunt, Ann. “Sadly she passed away before I got everything launched. Ann battled with cancer most of her adult life. She constantly helped collect for charity, she was very passionate about it. She was an incredibly kind person. In her memory I donated some of my profit from my first collection to cancer research. In today’s climate I think it’s important to give back what you can.” ​

See annieleona.com

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