Pauric Sweeney

Pauric Sweeney
Born
County Donegal, Ulster, Ireland
OccupationDesigner

Pauric Sweeney is a luxury handbag designer from Ireland. Sweeney was born in County Donegal in 1973. He has won the London Fashion Week New Generation Award for two consecutive seasons and is noted for his clean and minimalistic lines.

Early life

Sweeney was born in County Donegal in Ulster, and was raised in Falcarragh, a small town in the district of Cloughaneely in the north of County Donegal.[1] He attended Blackrock College in Dublin as a boarder before studying Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia.[2] At Blackrock College, Sweeney was friends with fellow designer Paul Costelloe. Sweeney moved to London in the late 90s where he lived in East London along with other young and new designers such as Hussein Chalayan and Lee Alexander McQueen.[3]

In the 1990s, Sweeney launched a multi-brand designer store and gallery at the fashion cult location called Root at The Old Truman Brewery at Brick Lane to much acclaim.[4]

Career

Sweeney began his fashion career as a jewellery designer in the late 90s, after which he progressed to designing ready-to-wear in 2000.[5] His first collection was titled "Wish U Were Gothic" and was revealed at the Louvre in Paris in 2000.[6]

He debuted his first collection at London Fashion Week in 2001 to much acclaim. His last ready-to-wear collection titled "Succubus" was shown at The Royal Opera House in London, and featured handbags made by the designer. It was then that his friend Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune suggested that he focus his attentions on designing handbags.[7] Pauric Sweeney handbags were launched in 2004 to much anticipation from the fashion world. Since then, he has amassed celebrity fans such as Leigh Lezark, Kate Moss, Liberty Ross, Jennifer Lopez, Agyness Deyn, Alexa Chung, and Coco Rocha amongst many others.[8]

Sweeney opened his flagship store in the posh Mayfair district of London in December 2011. Drawing inspiration from his architecture background, the store was praised as being "a treat for the senses" by Vogue UK.[9] The flagship store is located at 33A Bruton Place, Mayfair, London, W1J 6NP.[citation needed]

Sweeney has worked with Raf Simons as Creative Director of Accessories at Jil Sander.[10] In addition, he has collaborated with Rei Kawakubo of Comme Des Garcons, and worked for international department store Lane Crawford. In 2012, Sweeney collaborated with Chilean vineyard Carmen Wines to create a limited edition bag.[citation needed]

Sweeney has been compared to Tom Ford by several magazines because of his impeccable eye for design and quality.[11]

In addition to his new swanky flagship store, Pauric Sweeney's bags also retail at highly prestigious department stores such as Harrods, Selfridges, and Brown Thomas, as well as online via Net-A-Porter and Cocosa amongst others.

Sweeney now has three lines: Pauric Sweeney (his main exotic-skin line of handbags), Pauric by Pauric (diffusion leather line), and Sweeney (men's line).

References

  1. ^ Donegal Handbag King Returns To Live In Ireland (Donegal Daily, 24 July 2012). https://www.donegaldaily.com/2012/07/24/donegal-handbag-king-returns-to-live-in-ireland/
  2. ^ Avenue 32. "Pauric Sweeney Profile". Retrieved 23 October 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Modem, Online. "Pauric Sweeney". Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  4. ^ "Fashion Model Directory- Pauric Sweeney". Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  5. ^ "Fashion Model Directory". Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  6. ^ Cara, and Co. "Pauric Sweeney Profile". Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  7. ^ "The Garcons are Just Mad About Our Sweeney's Hot Stuff". The Independent. 14 November 2004. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  8. ^ Vogue, Italia. "Deluxe Bags by Pauric". Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  9. ^ Vogue UK. "Swooning for Sweeney". Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  10. ^ British Fashion Council. "London Collections: Men". Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  11. ^ "Pauric by Pauric Available Exclusively at Asos". Idol Magazine. April 2012. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2012.