Carol Smith has been in business for over 15 years, having studied Fashion Design in Dublin at the Grafton Academy and Millinery at the London College of Fashion. Carol has received large amounts of press coverage on programmes such as on Off the Rails on RTE, Ireland AM on TV3, the Afternoon Show, in national papers and in Irish and UK Magazines. She has worked with various leading Irish designers, including Richard Lewis and Thomas Wolfangel for their seasonal fashion shows. She has been commissioned by a wide range of public and private clients including by the National Museum of Ireland Collins Barracks, film and theatre shows, high profile clients as well as mothers of the bride and those heading to try their luck at the races. One of her latest commissions was for the presidential hopeful Mary Davis. During her years in business Carol has won various competitions for her millinery such as 1st prize at the E.B.S craft competition at the R.D.S, Best Hat and Best Dressed at the Galway Races, Derby Day at the Curragh, Dubai Races, Punchestown, The Horse Show RDS etc.
Carol’s vision for the craft of millinery is to move away from designing and making feature pieces to creating more structured hats and small head pieces, which provide maximum impact and subtlety of style. When designing a piece for a perspective commission she takes into account the clients features, and aspirations for their headpiece working with them to create a unique and inspiring piece to complement their overall look, accentuating their sense of confidence.
Ideally she envisages her business moving away from a mainly Dublin market to include clients from County Wicklow and Wexford. Recently her business has also seen a demand in teaching courses to adults and children in the skills of sewing in a more fun atmosphere, most likely with our new love as a nation of all things recycled and hand created.
