Taking her inspiration from the streets of Dublin, Niamh Mooney collaborated with Dublin based graffiti artist Maser, for her graduate collection "N meets M." Designer and artist worked together to design and create authentic graffiti style prints for the dance, sport and streetwear collection.

Niamh is a First Class Honours graduate from The University of Ulster in Belfast, with a Batchelors of Design in Fashion & Textile Design and previously a graduate of textiles from Ballyfermot College.

Going to graffiti jams and events like the Kings Of Concrete in Dublin allowed Niamh to get up close and personal with the city's graffiti artists, to watch them work and to bounce creative ideas off them.

The young designer chose to look at the positive aspects of the street art movement. "Some people think of graffiti as anti-social and the symbol of a detioriating society, but I look at graffiti as adding to our city," she says. "Alot of the art conveys a positive message, for example, 'I Love My City.' The artists are being creative, not just making a mark but making a message. They are out adding to the city not taking away or vandalising. I think it brightens up the streets."

Niamh wanted to bring this aspect of graffiti to her collection. "The big pieces really standout. When I was out looking at the artwork I noticed how many people actually stop and take notice and admire the pieces. Before you see anything you see the colours and then the message or image behind it. The striking colours make an impact and I thought this could translate well to fashion. Also there is often a lot of stuff going on in the pieces. Loads of different elements making up the big picture."

When it came to choosing her colour scheme, Niamh selected colours to reflect the standout nature of graffiti. The brick walls and concrete are the canvases for graffiti. The base colours of stone, silver and charcoal which she used for the lining and stitching, represented the urban environment in which we see graffiti pieces. While raspberry, teal, pistachio and tangerine are the eye catching highlight colours.

Not only did Niamh design the collection, but she pattern cutted and made all of the outfits. The collection is made from digitally printed viscose jersey, foil leather and metallic knitwear.

The succesful collection was featured at the graduate fashion show in the university in Belfast and has been featured in Ulster Tatler, The Sun newspaper, Northern Woman, The Irish News and Homes and Lifestyle magazine.

Working with the talented Dubliner Maser was a rewarding experience for Niamh. "Maser brings his unique and innovative mark to the work. His work inspired me and the collaboration was unlike any other design work I had done before. My designs are about making a statement and impact and I feel Maser's imagery and work compliments my designs."

Contact: niamhmooneyfashiondesign@hotmail.com