SASHA DONNELLAN

Shaping A New Mythology Of Womanhood

Between the lamb and the wolf, the bride and the soldier, the girl and the general, Sasha Donnellan is quietly rewriting what luxury — and female resilience — can look like. Some designers build brands. Sasha Donnellan is building a universe. At just 22, the Irish designer has already shown at Ireland Fashion Week, overseen a team of nearly 80 people, and launched a namesake label that sits at the intersection of poetry, politics, and precise craft. In conversation with 5ELEVEN Magazine, she moves easily between Seamus Heaney, bridal history, Irish militancy and girlhood — always returning to one recurring theme: resilience in the face of oppression. 

Words by Carolina Anzalone

Katie Connelly photographed by Alex Huchinson. Styled by Amanda Flor. Makeup by Jade Bird.

“My work is grounded in storytelling,” Sasha begins, framing our interview around hidden histories and feminine strength. I was curious to know what first drew her to fashion as the medium through which to express these narratives. Donnellan pauses, then gently corrects the record. “Fashion wasn’t first. Writing was.” As a teenager, she filled pages with stories about identity, and women’s experiences before discovering Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood, in an art history classroom. “It was through flicking through that book for the first time, I realised you can express these narratives not only on a page, but visually,” she recalls. “People could identify with the pieces and take the piece with them…your story is being spread around the world through people who understand it.” That idea — clothing as portable mythology — runs through every seam of her collections.

I was very frustrated with how women were being treated in society, but also how groups around the world were being treated. I want to be an advocate and representative of Irish luxury fashion around the world.

Between Cultures, Between Categories

Growing up between cultures, Donnellan often felt “tested” on where she was “truly” from. That pressure, she explains, forged an early clarity about who she is and what she wants to say. “When you feel constantly in between,” I ask, “how has that shaped the identity of your brand and the visual language you’re building?” Her answer reveals the spine of the label: a refusal to dilute complexity. Fashion becomes one of her languages, not a mask. That in‑between state lets her splice Irish folklore with continental couture techniques, raw coastline with Parisian pattern cutting, Catholic remnants with subversive romanticism. Irish heritage is ever-present — never a cage. “Every collection will always have an Irish element to it,” she says, “but I don’t want it to limit me to one story.” The result is a wider creative universe in which Irishness is a gravitational force, not a strict border.

Lupus et Agnes: The Wolf, the Lamb, the Woman

Her collection “Lupus et Agnes” — Latin for the wolf and the lamb — articulates this universe with painful precision. Conceived just after university, it began in fury: at how women are treated, at how vulnerable communities are policed and silenced. The fable of the wolf and the lamb became a flexible political metaphor. “At first, I was really focusing on the wolf—the oppressor,” she explains. “The early silhouettes were sharp, looming, almost predatory: big shoulders, intimidating forms, dark mood boards.” As she designed, something shifted internally. “Anger softened into resolve.”, and the collection pivoted. “It actually completely shifted,” she says. “I started designing more with the lamb in mind… the focus on resilience and the beauty of that.” The garments followed suit — military edges softened by silk, eerie atmospheres giving way to girlish, whimsical textures. It’s not escapism. It’s a refusal to accept that softness and power are opposites.

Bridal vs. Military: A New Armour of Womanhood

One of the most striking codes in Donnellan’s work is the fusion of bridal softness and military structure. It wasn’t a branding exercise; it grew out of trying to clothe contradictions.

The wedding dress, for her, is a contested object: historically tied to women’s lack of agency, yet reclaimed today as a site of choice, authorship, and spectacle. Pale palettes and fluid drapery become symbols of innocence and intimacy — but always with an edge. Opposite that stands the military jacket: a direct line to her deep study of Irish history, colonial conflict, uprising and resistance.

Through sharply tailored cotton gabardine and waxed fabrics, she channels both the looming figure of the oppressor and the tenacity of those who resist. In her hands, these two archetypes don’t cancel each other out — they heighten each other. Bridal satin collapsing over rigid shoulders. Corseted waists cinched above battle-ready coats. A vocabulary of cuts and cloth that reads less like styling and more like political commentary on the roles women are asked — and forced — to play.

Craft as Ethics, Not Aesthetic

Sasha Donnellan’s politics are not just thematic; they’re embedded in process. Trained at ESMOD in Paris, she can build a garment from sketch to finished piece, pattern and all. That technical rigor is non‑negotiable: fit is a form of respect for the wearer. Her collaboration with Vision Ireland pushes that respect further. In warehouses, she sifted through mountains of discarded clothing—“beautiful 100% wool tailored jackets from heritage Irish brands” next to natural silk blouses—rescued them, and re‑cut them into new luxury pieces. “I think that’s luxurious in itself,” she says. “Giving fabric that was already beautiful that level of craftsmanship and care and time.” Sustainability here isn’t a buzzword; it’s a political stance on value, on waste, on what — and who — is considered disposable.

Leading, Without Diluting

When I ask how it felt to go from intern to leading nearly 80 people at Ireland Fashion Week, she admits to imposter syndrome. Yet the lesson wasn’t about ego; it was about trust, clear communication and understanding that a collection is always bigger than a single author. Her future feels similarly expansive: red carpet commissions, new stockists, Ireland Fashion Week 2026, and collections that track her life “like reading through my diary,” as she puts it. Themes such as girlhood, tested faith and medieval art are already hovering, ready to settle into fabric when the time — and the woman — are right. Ultimately, she wants her brand to advocate “for resilience, for a better future, while honouring our past” and to stand as a representative of Irish luxury on the global stage, making people feel the way Galliano’s Dior once did — visceral, transportive, and unforgettable.

In a world that still asks women to choose between softness and strength, Sasha Donnellan cuts a different path — one where a lamb wears armour, a bride marches, and every seam stitches resistance into beauty.