Fashion and farming: Cork festival to look at what we wear and where it comes from 

When Ciara Hunt and her husband bought a farm near Kinsale five years ago, they were struck by the absolute silence that surrounded it – and not in a good way.

The couple had three children born in different cities and had been moving for 15 years, living in Toronto, Boston, Munich and London, and wanted a ‘forever place’.

“The farmhouse was a ruin but the courtyard and forest where it nestled was beautiful. There were rolling fields with fabulous views but the silence was deafening, with no birds, no insects despite all those trees. It was astonishing,” recalls Ciara.

The first thing they did to the farm, opposite her parents’ organic holding, was to stop all spraying and embark on a project of bringing life back into the soil, which is still ongoing.

“They’ve also planted thousands of trees, hedgerows, multi-species meadows, wild flowers and the buzzing and birds are already flocking back.

The house has also been restored but Ciara says that she’s “more excited about what goes on outside than inside”.

Sir Tim Smit, founder of the world famous Eden Project, has visited the Kinsale farm several times over the years.

Since his stunning Cornwall botanic gardens and magnificent indoor rainforest opened in 2000, more than 19 million people have come to see what was once a sterile pit turned into a cradle of life containing world-class horticulture, and Sir Tim has been advising on next steps and plans for the next chapter of Ciara’s farm.

He’s one of the speakers at the first Fashion and Farming festival which takes place in Kinsale from May 10 and 11, and will host conversations from a diverse cross-section of ionate advocates who aim to work for a more sustainable way of life in growing and who want to tell their stories, while educating too.

Ciara and her mum, Mareta Doyle, who says farming is in her DNA, have collaborated to bring the festival to Kinsale.

Mareta and her husband Conor have an organic 40-acre farm where they’ve planted 7,000 trees in the past few years.

“When Ciara bought a small farm across the road from us and started regenerative farming, it became a big part of both our lives.

"Ciara has been part of the fashion world for many years now and the idea of doing this event in May in Kinsale just landed with us one day – it was a lightbulb moment,” she said.

“The idea is to highlight how we can attain a more sustainable life and country by gathering experts, environmentalists, innovators, dreamers, fabricators, planners and inventors to sow the seeds for fresh ideas to help mend the farm-to-fabric cycles, which have been damaged in recent decades. And to just give us the knowledge on what can be done to make things better for the future,” said Mareta.

Mareta is no stranger to organising festivals, and founded the award-winning and long-running international Kinsale Arts Festival which she ran from 2005-2014.

She has also served on boards including the Triskel Arts Centre and the Glucksman Gallery and is a consultant to Sotheby’s Ireland.

Mareta hopes the event in Kinsale next month will start a conversation. “Once inextricably linked, fashion and farming are part of our domestic and social fabric, but how we farm and how we create fashion are killing us in today’s world. We believe it’s time to make it, better.

“The Fashion and Farming Festival aims to help unify the two worlds of fashion and farming to explore ideas on how to farm sustainably, create new fabrics, and learn new things from older ways of making.”

With Cork home to some of the country’s biggest and best dairy farmers, does Mareta think they’re being unfairly scapegoated in the climate conversation?

“That’s a big topic but yes, Ireland has such a rich grassland, we really are lucky to have the climate to sustain this abundance of grass growing needed for our wonderful cattle.

“If I was truthful, I’d say dairy is our best export product – Kerrygold butter and Irish beef, etc - and I think there must be a way of solving the methane problem with diet or possibly technology, or target other industries and leave us our cows,” she said.

On a global level, she said, and with the current U.S leader setting the agenda that every country is now following, she feels we are probably going backwards and striding in the wrong direction when it comes to climate change policy.

“But come to our weekend and this can be discussed further with many of our speakers!” she said.

Ciara’s background is mainly fashion media. She has served as editor with the Net-a-Porter group, Tatler, Hello!, InStyle and The World of Interiors.

In Toronto, she was appointed editor of Hello! for its Canadian debut in 2007, and within five years it was the country’s best-selling magazine. She was also a royal commentator for the CBC (Canadian BBC), and Prince William and Kate asked to meet her, as they had watched her on TV every morning before their duties during their royal tour of Canada!

She is acutely aware of the impacts of our fashion.

“Clothing is part of the fabric of life, and fashion is one of our primary sources of self-expression. It gives us warmth, safety and joy.

“The world’s fashion and textiles industries are now causing huge environmental damage.

“Less than 1% of clothing is recycled into new clothing and 73% of the materials used are landfilled or burned.”

Celebrity speakers at the Fashion and Farming festival include Adam Clayton of U2 and Darina Allen of Ballymaloe fame, and the list of people the mother and daughter have attracted is impressive.

“Whether you’re a fashion enthusiast, a farmer or simply curious about the relationship between these two worlds, fashion and farming weaves together experiences, projects and stories that might lead to a brighter future for our planet,” promised Mareta.

See https://www.fashionandfarming.com/

Ciara’s top sustainable fashion tips

• Buy less and spend more. Each season, I buy one fabulous piece that I wear for years. I tend to spend more on staple pieces and reuse often. I recently turned up to a meeting in a pair of Clements Ribeiro tros from 30 years ago and a vintage jacket from Comme des Garçons, that I found in New York. Both big spends at the time but they’ve stood the test of time.
• Wear vintage and you won’t match anyone else. Vintage has become a generic term for anything second-hand but pure vintage finds are a real treat. Some of my most treasured finds have been on my travels. They sit in the more wacky part of my wardrobe but I love pulling a vintage jacket with an old favourite pair of jeans. Let’s just say the jeans are older than the Clements Ribeiro tros!
• Rent the runway. Please don’t buy a new dress for every special occasion. Renting for these one-off occasions saves money that you don’t have to run out and buy something that you’ll wear only once.
• Repair, renew, recycle. Don’t discard those well-worn and well-loved items. Have them updated, repaired and you’ll give them a whole new life. Also, avoid fast fashion, which is one of the world’s biggest pollutants, using high amounts of energy, employing cheap labour and creating growing landfills due to the disposable mindset. Buying that trendy dress is taking a toll on the environment. Have fun! I love fashion. I love the latest trend and lust after those Manolos too but am now holding back on the impulse buy. I’m trying to be more mindful of what I wear and the earth we share.