Irish fashion focus: ‘Making in Ireland, you have a hands-on process you can’t get when you make abroad’
Anneliese Duffy’s fashion career began at seven sewing bows onto dresses at her parents’ factory. That kickstarted her passion for the Irish textile industry, which continues in her Linen Shirt Company, which sources and produces its collections here
'Roxanne' linen shirt in green, €229, Linen Shirt Company. Photo: Evan Doherty
'Fiona' linen shirt in navy and in white, €229, Linen Shirt Company. Photo: Evan Doherty
"Making in Ireland was in my DNA. My mum was talking about how it used to be — we’d get our zips in Stoneybatter, our buttons dyed in Brunswick Street, and thread in Ballyfermot." Anneliese Duffy. Photo: Leon Farrell
'Sheena' linen shirt in white, €210 (left); 'Fiona' linen shirt in white, €229, both Linen Shirt Company. Photo: Evan Doherty
'Clodagh' linen shirt in grey, €180, Linen Shirt Company. Photo: Evan Doherty
At seven years of age, Anneliese Duffy started working at her parents’ factory, sewing bows on dresses. She is now the owner and designer of the Linen Shirt Company and has made it her mission to revive Irish manufacturing.
“My parents, Peter and Laura, and my grandmother on my dad’s side were all manufacturers, so I grew up in it,” Duffy explains.
"Making in Ireland was in my DNA. My mum was talking about how it used to be — we’d get our zips in Stoneybatter, our buttons dyed in Brunswick Street, and thread in Ballyfermot." Anneliese Duffy. Photo: Leon Farrell
“My parents never wanted me to do this job, my mother did everything she could to convince me not to. It’s a tough life, but I didn’t want to do anything else.”
As a child, Duffy would even pretend to be ill so she could skip school and look at new fabric shipments. “My first job was making bows on the back of Laura Ashley dresses. I had two minutes and 32 seconds to make a bow. My mother thought that would turn me off, but I got such a buzz trying to beat the timer.”
After her mother accepted her daughter’s love of fashion, she began to nurture it. “When I was 12, she told me: ‘If you really want to do this job, you can go to Grafton [Academy] and do a summer course’, which I did. I was 12; everyone else was in their 20s.”
'Sheena' linen shirt in white, €210 (left); 'Fiona' linen shirt in white, €229, both Linen Shirt Company. Photo: Evan Doherty
Duffy’s love for indigenous manufacturing stayed with her when she launched the Linen Shirt Company in 2020.
“Making in Ireland was in my DNA. My mum was talking about how it used to be — we’d get our zips in Stoneybatter, our buttons dyed in Brunswick Street, and thread in Ballyfermot.
“We knew everyone we bought from. There were 100 factories in Dublin alone at the time. I have firsthand experience of these places closing and losing long-time vendors, it’s just so sad. When you’re making in Ireland, you have a hands-on process that you can’t get when you make abroad.”
'Roxanne' linen shirt in green, €229, Linen Shirt Company. Photo: Evan Doherty
Duffy now has a small team with a few machinists. This hands-on process was vital for Linen Shirt Company, who source all their linen in Ireland as well as manufacturing here.
“Linen is so versatile,” says Duffy. “I started with shirts because men, women and children can wear them. It went from there.”
After three years in business, Duffy is still astounded by her customers’ support.
“People want to wear my stuff, that’s mad to me! I love it when I get a message from a customer. They’ve chosen to spend their money on something I’ve made — wow. I love that.”
See linenshirtcompany.ie
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