Liadain is a designer with a bachelor of arts in fashion design 2001 and a postgraduate diploma in knit technology 2002. She won the prestigious Persil Fashion Award in 2001 and the €13,000 bursary helped in fulfilling her dream of setting up her own knitwear company in 2003. She has worked with talented designers such as Dublin based Marc O Neill, in 2000, Elementi Moda, International knitwear forecasting company in Milan in 2001 and with limerick based knitwear designer Caroline Mitchell in 2002 Her label Liadain De Buitlear knitwear was launched at showcase in the RDS, Dublin in January 2003 and has attracted interest from buyers at home as well as internationally. Liadain De Buitlear knitwear will produce one transeasonal collection yearly. This year's autumn/ winter collection is inspired by the rugged landscapes of the Aran Islands. Natural fibres in neutral colours are used to translate the story and each of the garments is unique due to creative felting techniques, which vary the texture of each piece. Design details and clever accessory pieces feature in this year's collection with ceramic buttons produced by Riel-ceramics in Lisburn. Popular this season is the felted bags and hats/collars as well as the draped cardi/coats with detachable collars. The wide and varied range encourages buyers to chose different looks suitable for their specific customer and targets a market as diverse as the 25-60 age group.