Ireland’s Most Influential in Fashion was established to celebrate the talent and diversity in Irish fashion and recognise creativity and success. The awards are a fantastic platform to showcase some of Ireland’s most influential, as well as up-and-coming, designers, photographers, editors, models, stylists and more. It’s also an opportunity to showcase this talent to some influential behind the scenes movers and shakers from around the world. The Awards are divided into two distinct parts, the People’s Choice Award and the Industry Award.
The People's Choice Award
The People’s Choice Award is an entirely open process that engages the public in every element of the Awards, including the nomination, shortlisting and voting process. Nominations were open to the public for a period of two weeks. A shortlist was compiled based on the number of nominations a person received. The shortlists in each category were then published and members of the public were invited to cast their vote over a four week period. In order to ensure the integrity of the voting process, an application developed by an American company used by both Vogue and Time was implemented. By the close of voting, over 30,000 votes had been cast by the public.
The Industry Award
For the Industry Award a shortlist of the most influential people in Irish fashion was created by Faye Dinsmore, with the input of a number of other fashion insiders. In each category, the shortlist of influencers will be presented to an international expert who will pick the overall winner immediately before the Awards Night. Those experts form the overall judging panel, chaired by Faye Dinsmore, and includes leading international photographers, editors, agents, models and stylists. The judges will decide on a special industry award in each category. This will be awarded to the person viewed by the industry as the most influential in each category.
Admittedly, as a moderately successful 23 year old model, I can't do very much, but at the very least I can do a little. These awards are my little contribution to fashion in Ireland, creating another window onto Ireland to share with the world. I feel it's important to reach back to Ireland and try to connect my peers into the world I've stepped into. The many incredible international judges we'll be announcing over the coming weeks are very much part of this effort. It's only year one, but hopefully it's the start of something that will grow in the years to come." — Faye Dinsmore
