CMAT’s favourite tights brand is popping up in Dublin

If you’ve been watching CMAT tear up stages across Europe this year and thinking “where are those incredible tights from?” — good news. The designer behind them is coming to Dublin next month, and it’s completely free to attend.

The Woven Relations pop-up is taking over Bewley’s on Grafton Street on 26 September, running from 11am to 5pm, and it’s shaping up to be one of the more genuinely exciting fashion events of the autumn. Think a curated gathering of early-career Irish and international designers under one of Dublin’s most iconic roofs, with the chance to actually meet the people making the work and buy it directly from them.

CMAT’s stage looks have a very Irish origin

Among the designers showcasing at the event is Lainey Whelan, the founder of hand-printed tights brand T-Lainey. CMAT has been spotted wearing T-Lainey on stages in Dublin, London, Manchester, Glasgow and Belgium this year, which is the kind of celebrity endorsement that money genuinely can’t buy.

The brand sits at that sweet spot between wearable art and genuine statement dressing — the kind of thing that makes people stop you on the street to ask where your legs are from, which is a sentence that only makes sense in a fashion context.

It’s about more than just clothes

Joining T-Lainey at the event will be a curated lineup of independent designers including Conor O’Brien Studio, Casa Cor and Moroccan label Anouri Original. Attendees can browse and buy one-of-a-kind pieces, but the event is designed to go a bit deeper than a standard market.

Nicole Holbrook, Visual Storyteller at Bewley’s Grafton Street, has been the driving force behind the concept. “Woven Relations is not necessarily about fashion itself, but about how fashion as a form expresses wider narratives, relationships and ways of being,” she said.

She describes the project as viewing fashion as “a form of cultural storytelling and connection, shaped through relationships between designer and material, wearer and identity, craft and environment, individual and community.” Which, yes, is the kind of language that usually makes your eyes glaze over — but in this context it genuinely tracks. It’s essentially an argument that your wardrobe is a form of self-expression and community, and honestly? Hard to disagree.

Holbrook added that she’s particularly interested in making the inner workings of brands visible: the processes, collaborations and people who exist behind the scenes but rarely get the spotlight. The Woven Relations event is part of Bewley’s broader Bewley’s Presents cultural programme, which has been bringing creatives into the heart of Dublin through exhibitions, music, conversation and events.

“Bewley’s has always been a meeting place for artists, writers, musicians,” Holbrook said, “and this programme endeavours to continue this legacy.”

What you need to know

• What: Woven Relations pop-up — a curated showcase of independent Irish and international fashion designers

• Where: Bewley’s, Grafton Street, Dublin

• When: 26 September 2026, 11am–5pm

• Cost: Free entry

It’s the kind of Saturday morning that beats another scroll through the same online shops. See you there.