7th July 2026: Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI), with support from The Heritage Council, announce funding for Standing Ground couture show at Paris Haute Couture Week Winter 2026/2027, which took place in the Irish Embassy in Paris on the evening of Monday 6th July.
The support is for a full couture gown made entirely from Carrickmacross lace. The project is a collaboration between Irish couturier, Michael Stewart of Standing Ground, and Monaghan-based lace artisans, with designer-educator, Natalie B. Coleman, coordinating and facilitating the collaboration on behalf of Standing Ground.
Carrickmacross lace has been rooted in Monaghan community history since the 1820s. Historically, this craft relied on the skilled, often anonymous, labour of women. This project honours their legacy through contemporary design. Creating the required 15 meters of lace requires intensive labour, calculated at 10 hours of work per 20 centimetres.
This initiative delivers a direct statement of cultural intent. In Ireland, fashion and textiles remain excluded from the Arts Act. This project challenges that institutional omission, asserting that fashion is a vital art form deserving of formal recognition and investment.
By elevating lace to the couture stage, this collaboration asserts Ireland’s place in the global craft conversation, one which began earlier this year with the CIGI (craft and industrial geographical indication) awareness conference in Dublin. The new CIGI scheme, which came into force in December 2025, will provide protection for craft and industrial products highlighting their quality, reputation, and tradition linked to a specific geographic region such as Carrickmacross Lace.
This collaboration is not the first time Design & Crafts Council Ireland has crossed creative paths with Michael Stewart. In 2022, he was named the Emerging Maker Winner in the organisation’s Future Makers Awards, a distinction that celebrates innovation and excellence in contemporary craft practice across all disciplines.
Commenting on the support Michael Stewart said: “When deciding to show at Haute Couture in Paris it was important to me to work with Irish craft that stands confidently within that world. Carrickmacross lace allows me to bring hand-worked craft from Ireland into dialogue with couture at the highest level, supported with the generosity of Design & Crafts Council Ireland and The Heritage Council.”
Mary Blanchfield, CEO at Design & Crafts Council Ireland, said: “We are delighted to support the visionary work of Michael Stewart, who has made it his mission to highlight the enduring importance and value of this time-honoured Irish heritage craft. Reimagining Carrickmacross lace through the modern language of haute couture, this work shines a global spotlight on Irish heritage craft and celebrates the artistry of Monaghan’s lace makers.”
About Standing Ground
Established in 2022 by Michael Stewart, Standing Ground creates modern evening wear, custom garments, and body ornaments. Standing Ground’s practice is informed by the specificity of the body, featuring draping, sculpting and craft techniques. The Irish designer attends to proportion, silhouette, and material, placing ancient histories in dialogue with envisioned futures.
Michael Stewart graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2017, and in 2024, Standing Ground was awarded the LVMH Savoir Faire Prize for commitment to craft.
