By Charlotte Hughes
How Sean McGirr’s 2024 Met Gala design allowed Irish terrain to be translated into contemporary fashion
Everybody remembers the 2024 Met Gala as one of the most iconic events of the year, not only visually, but conceptually. With a theme as specific as The Garden of Time and a dress code of Sleeping Beauties, the night demanded an understanding of nature, stillness, and transformation. While many designers struggled to interpret this successfully, one in particular stood out.
The piece, worn by Lana Del Rey, was structured with aged branches rising from the hem of the dress and extending upward into a crown-like form, creating the impression of antlers. These antlers possible represented a great Irish elk, as this piece was designed by Irish creative Sean McGirr for Alexander McQueen. The look blended fragility with strength, whilst also complimenting and strengthening the feminine energy of the piece. Layered sheer nude fabrics evoked stillness and earthiness, while the sharp structure held the body upright, grounded and strong. In this piece, Irish terrain, quiet, weathered, and raw, was translated into contemporary fashion on a global stage. Translated by material choice, fabric layering and visual colour palette, it is clear to see these parallels.
There is something deeply relatable in the pride of seeing an artist of such scale wear a garment designed by someone born on the same small island, specifically the same city. A city which is dense with culture, landscape, and creative talent finally being represented at one of the biggest annual fashion events. McGirr’s work did not shout Irishness and was not specifically made to represent the landscape of Ireland but instead allowed it to breathe through texture, form, and atmosphere.
Irish landscape as a standalone concept is deeply rooted in fashion and design language. In recent years, neutral palettes including greys, stone tones, and muted greens have returned to fashion, slowly veering away from the intense neon colours of the early 2000s. These subdued tones mirror Irish weather, land, and culture. Intentionally or not, Irish geology can be felt in these textures and colours to. Irish bogs heavy with moisture, moss-covered stone, coastal cliffs, and karst regions can all be interpreted as fashion inspirations when looking at Ireland’s terrain. When these natural tones are paired with strong silhouettes and contemporary styling, the Irish landscape becomes a quiet but powerful design reference.
Sean McGirr, a Dublin-born designer, approaches his work with a contemporary edge rather than a folkloric one. His pieces do not directly reference Irish folklore, nor do they directly reflect Irelands natural beauty and landscape, however, the natural beauty of Ireland is undeniably present throughout his designs, whether it be intentional or not. It is easy to sense where McGirr comes from when observing his work.
Irish fashion is often expected to be traditional or folkloric, tied to familiar imagery such as heavy Aran jumpers, bright greens, and romanticised stereotypes of Irish culture. It is important for it to be represented that Ireland in a fashion sense is so much more than that. These assumptions frequently blur with Scottish references, as outsiders attempt to define Irish beauty through features and fashions not native to Ireland at all. McGirr resists these expectations. His work avoids cliché, and over used inspirations, refusing to perform Irishness in a way that feels costume like. Instead, he allows landscape to exist as a subtle influence rather than a literal reference. This tension between local identity and international audiences is something that really stands out. An Irish artist designing for one of the world’s biggest musicians, at the biggest fashion event of the year, while still carrying traces of home through form, colour and texture.
The human body itself is constantly changing, evolving, and developing with time, an inevitable fact that mirrors nature and landscape. Earth reflects humans, and humans reflect earth. Lana Del Rey, wearing McGirr’s piece, became a figure of mythology and melancholy, grounded yet intriguing. The Met Gala becomes a performance space where the body transforms into terrain, rooted, structured, and held upright, as if supported by nature itself. Fashion nearly becomes a performance art for the duration of this night, allowing it to represent the work of these designers and artists. The branches framing the body suggest growth, decay, and rebirth, reinforcing the idea of the body as part of the natural world rather than separate from it. Seeing the human body as a natural object, stripped back from some of the other looks of the met gala, is refreshing and comforting to be reminded of our tight links to nature, and how our natural beauty is so deeply intertwined with it.
The impact of Irish design appearing at the Met Gala is remarkable. Seeing Ireland represented with such sensitivity, uniqueness, and beauty is deeply prideful. This event brought visibility to Irish creativity on a global scale and offered inspiration to younger designers searching for their own breakthrough. Having Irish creatives be seen on such a global scale whilst not feeding into the stereotypical perceptions of Irish culture is exactly what the Irish creative arts needed. Irish culture is no longer confined to geography, it is being globalised, reinterpreted, and woven into contemporary fashion all over the world.
Similarly to Irish fashion, Irish landscape is something to be carried, not left behind. The earthy, dull tones of Ireland, which can often be perceived as gloomy, can instead be read as rich, natural, and alive. Landscape, fashion, and Irish identity are constantly shifting, changing, and developing, being continually reinterpreted by creatives all around. Fashion, much like the land itself, will always finds ways to survive modernity while remaining rooted in where it came from.