Knitters take heart: the results of a student design competition suggest your work has come back into vogue. The top three prizes at yesterday's Smirnoff Fashion Awards all went to knitwear students at Limerick College of Art and Design.
The winning garments not only shared a common origin and technique, but also a strong sense of commercial realities; all three were dresses which could go into mass production immediately and enjoy widespread sales.
This is something of a change for the 15-year-old Smirnoff awards, which until now have been seen as an opportunistic outlet for youthful - if impractical - imagination. The choice of this year's selection panel - which comprised designers John Rocha and Marc O'Neill, D'Side magazine editor Melanie Morris and Arnotts fashion consultant Eddie Shanahan - was for comfortable, well-made clothing for which there will always be demand.
The international success of Ireland's knitwear doyenne, Lainey Keogh, has also shown fashion students it is possible to create a fresh image for even the most traditional of forms.
Certainly, yesterday's winning design, by LCAD degree student Aoife Burke, seemed to have been inspired by Keogh's own work. A semi-sheer, knee-length lilac dress in stretch knit shot with metallic thread, it was fringed around the square neckline, sleeves and hem. While relatively diaphanous, any fear of exposure, especially around the bust, was saved by an underlining of chiffon.
Ms Burke received a cheque for £1,250 and the opportunity to represent Ireland at the Smirnoff International Designer competition in Hong Kong next November.
Second prize went to Liam Grier, a graduate of LCAD's enterprise development programme in knitwear technology.
Tellingly, Mr Grier's clothes have been on sale to the public for the past year and the full-length brown dress with complementary jacket shown is very typical of his work.
Third place went to Fionnuala O'Herlihy, another graduate of the LCAD knitwear development programme, for her full-length grey ribbed-knit dress with single-shoulder cobweb apron.