Former Cambridge House pupil has NI TV fashion show final all sewn up

Now a fashion designer, Thomas Irwin was chosen as the winner of the inaugural title following a tense final with another local designer, Matthew Tanner from Castlerock.

Thomas, 21, is a Textile Art, Design and Fashion graduate from Ulster University who specialises in sustainable fashion for men.

Four talented designers faced a total of eight testing challenges during the recently aired BBC NI series.

Each week the four drew inspiration from the Ulster Scots pioneers who helped shape the global textiles industry. Through technical and design-led challenges, the finalists uncovered the story of Northern Ireland’s rich textiles heritage and its legacy today. Designers Katie Larmour and Una Rodden were the judges who decided who would win the prize in ‘A Stitch Through Time’.

Thomas and Matthew were first tasked with creating a linen waistcoat lined with satin in their final technical challenge. In their second challenge of the final, the two were tasked with creating a design based on Ulster’s most iconic textile, linen.

Thomas took his inspiration from the styles of the 60s and 70s and used a psychedelic linen pattern to create a bold jumpsuit.

He used the psychedelic material to give the impression of a rainbow: “Because when rainbows are used they are normally used in terms of ‘hope’ and that’s what the linen industry brought.”

Winning the overall title, Thomas said he “wasn’t expecting it at all”, pointing out that he expected to leave the competition after week two but put what he had learned from the previous weeks into practice to reach the final.

‘A Stitch Through Time’, hosted by Claire McCollum, is made by DoubleBand Films with funding from the Northern Ireland Screen Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund. Claire was joined on the programme by textile historian Bruce Clark, who is a descendent of one of Ulster’s great linen families, to reveal the stories behind the design challenges.

It is still available to watch on the BBC’s streaming platform iplayer.