Growing up in the mid Ulster town of Ardboe, Belfast School of Art Technician Grainne Taylor always had a passion for fashion. Her mother, a talented dressmaker, worked at the Daintyfit textile factory nearby – part of the fabric of Northern Ireland’s textile industry.
Grainne’s love of art brought her to study at Ulster University Belfast School of Art, where her interest was clear from the start.
"It was always about fashion for me and that was the focus of my degree. Mum was very much the seamstress of the family and I’d watched her at work for years, making everything from my sisters’ gowns for formal to all the drapes in our family home.”
It was a chance encounter with an article in The Sunday Times whilst at school and helping out in her parents’ newsagent shop that opened up the possibility for Grainne to pursue her mum’s talent into the next generation. Grainne explains:
“We all worked in the shop, with very early starts to get the newspapers ready each morning. I always asked dad to be sure to keep me any leftover copies of The Sunday Times Style magazine. I read an article by Polly Devlin – author, journalist, broadcaster and film-maker – and I was stunned to find out that she came from here in Ardboe, leaving after she won a Vogue Magazine talent competition. She went on to become features editor on American Vogue amongst many other accomplishments in the creative world. I knew right there and then that I could and should follow my own career ambitions in fashion.”
Whilst studying fashion at Ulster University, Grainne’s interest in costume emerged. She recalls:
“I can appreciate the value of challenging critique because it was feedback that some of my designs and creations veered a little towards costumery that began to nudge me in the direction of an international career path that I could only have dreamt about growing up on the shores of Lough Neagh.”
Between the second and third year of her degree, Grainne secured a summer job working in the costume department on Game of Thrones Season 4, joining Belfast School of Art lecturer and textile artist Lucy Smyth who originated the wildings costumes.
“As a trainee I was so fortunate to be in the principal workroom with talent from all over the world, creating costumes for actress Natalie Dormer. By what seemed like bizarre coincidence, Margaret - the chief pattern cutter on the production - was also from Ardboe and had herself been encouraged by Polly Devlin to study fashion in London. Such a small world.”
After graduating, Grainne was contracted to Game of Thrones Season as costumier from season 5 through to season 8, including working on Emelia Clarke’s costumes, and during which time the costume department won an Emmy award, with everyone on the team receiving a coveted, personalised Emmy certificate. In the years that followed, Grainne worked as senior or principal costume maker on films such as Dune 2 starring Timothy Chalamet, How to Train Your Dragon and Cyrano, as well as numerous TV productions including Good Omens, Outlander, and Torvill and Dean for ITV.
She explains:
“Fashion is my core profession, but working in costume for historical, sci-fi and fantasy films, gave me the chance to stretch my skills with unusual materials such as rubber and plastic. Over my decade in the film industry, I was fortunate to travel the world and work with incredible people on some enduringly popular films and studio productions for TV.
It’s always exciting when you see your creation on screen – what starts with the cutting, to the stitching and the fittings, emerging as the finished garment for filming. Along with the locations, set, visual effects and music score, the costume department plays such an important part in creating the atmosphere and authenticity of a film, supporting the actors to really inhabit their characters.”
After also running her own business including creating costumes for Marvel Studios, Grainne found herself hankering to settle at home. She joined Belfast School of Art as Textile Art, Fashion and Design Technician in the spring of last year, and was made very welcome by the team, including Fashion Lecturer Dean Liggett and Embroidery Technician Heather Burgess. Settling into University life for this her first full academic year as a staff member, Grainne has opted to complete the First Steps to Teaching programme. In her role as fashion technician, Grainne instructs undergraduate and postgraduate students in clothing design, making and garment construction, integrating emerging fashion technologies and sustainable design practices.
Grainne adds:
“I have always been interested in sharing skills and encouraging others and so this technician role was a great opportunity to do just that – back where it all started for me. Working alongside the other technicians in Belfast School of Art, I spend my time in the studios supporting our students with core skills and helping to build their confidence in the techniques, equipment, materials and processes that will enable them to create their designs.
Backstage with our students at the annual fashion show, helping them with finishing touches before their models took to the catwalk, was a lovely moment for me as a new technician – supporting from the wings as our students unveil all their hard work and talent to an audience.”
From the expanse of the busy pattern cutting tables to the love of detail that is characteristic of Grainne’s work on the finest of buttonholes, she now shares her wealth of industry experience, skill and talent with students who are pursuing their own ambitions in the fashion industry.