DERRY:Designer Wayne Hemingway who built his name in the fashion business but who now designs buildings, was the keynote speaker at the recent Creative Inspiration conference in Derry, organised by the University of Ulster (UU).
Other speakers included music artist Scanner, Michael Thomson from Design Connect, the UK designers' networking group, and Barry Sheehan of the Institute of Designers of Ireland, Dublin.
Hemingway's and his wife, Gerardine, recently worked on a new vision for the 1960s English new town Skelmersdale and the couple are bringing innovative design concepts to volume house builder George Wimpey.
The objective of the conference was to show Ireland's creative community how integral the arts are becoming to business - both private industry and public sector organisations.
One spin-off from the conference was a growing awareness that the public sector has a lot to gain from connecting with the creative sector, exemplified not least by Hemingway's track record in urban regeneration across the UK.
The principles Hemingway brought to clothes centred on affordable designs that blurred the lines between high street fashion and designer wear. Those principles are now being employed in a series of public housing projects in the UK.
"You can see people thinking the same way across Northern Ireland," says organiser Justin Magee of UU, pointing out that the regeneration problems faced by the North are every bit as pressing as those across the Irish Sea.
The creative agenda it seems knows no boundaries.
