This Dublin student just won a €4,000 Brown Thomas design award
A final-year NCAD student from Stepaside has just landed a €4,000 bursary from Brown Thomas — and her collection is exactly as cool as you’d hope.
Charlotte Carvill, a Fashion Design student at the National College of Art and Design, has been named the winner of the Brown Thomas ‘Designer to Watch’ Bursary Award 2026. Her graduate collection, You Are Here, blew the judges away with its blend of hiking culture, festival energy and seriously wearable streetwear silhouettes.
Where hiking meets festival season
The concept behind You Are Here is genuinely inspired. Charlotte grew up at the foot of Three Rock Mountain and spent her summers at festivals around Ireland, and rather than treating those two worlds as separate, she merged them into something entirely her own. The collection is unisex, functional and built around the kind of comfort that actually makes sense for real life — whether you’re scrambling up a trail or queuing for the main stage.
Charlotte explained the thinking behind it herself: “Growing up at the foot of Three Rock Mountain, I have spent my life hiking and exploring this landscape, while my summers have been shaped by attending festivals around the country. These two environments have had a significant influence on both my personal style and my development as a designer.”
She went on: “You Are Here is a unisex streetwear collection that is functional, comfortable, and expressive. It draws direct inspiration from both environments and reimagines the garments I choose to wear while hiking and attending festivals, enhancing these experiences while reflecting my visual and material identity as a designer.”
Two models style the paint-splatter wide-leg trousers look.
The judges were impressed — and it’s easy to see why
This year’s award brought in a seriously heavyweight guest judge: Deirdre McQuillan, Fashion Editor of The Irish Times and one of the most respected names in Irish fashion journalism. Having Deirdre in the room raises the stakes considerably, and Charlotte still came out on top.
Tracey Despard, Fashion Buying Director at Brown Thomas, was effusive about the standard of work this year. “Each year, it is a privilege to witness the creativity, originality and vision demonstrated by the students, and this year’s standard was exceptionally high. Charlotte’s collection truly stood out for its modern silhouettes, thoughtful functionality and deeply personal storytelling,” she said.
The Brown Thomas and NCAD partnership has now been running for eleven years, which is no small thing. Professor Sarah Glennie, Director of NCAD, called it an “invaluable platform” for emerging design talent and noted that its legacy will “continue to resonate across Irish fashion and design for years to come.”
What’s next for Charlotte
Alongside the €4,000 bursary, Charlotte’s collection will be showcased at the Brown Thomas Grafton Street store this summer as part of the annual CREATE showcase. For a designer who grew up in Dublin dreaming about the iconic store, that’s a full-circle moment.
Charlotte put it best herself: “Being from Dublin I have always aspired to have my work in Brown Thomas, although I would never have imagined to have this opportunity at such an early stage in my career. To see my work in store alongside designers and brands I look up to such as Robyn Lynch, Oakley and Prada will be surreal.”
If you want to see the collection in person before it heads to Grafton Street, the NCAD Degree Show is open to the public from today through 13 June 2026 at the Department of Design for Body and Environment, Fashion, Top Floor, Design for Industry Building, NCAD, Dublin. Worth the trip.
