Colin Burke’s knit trick

For the first time, Galway designer Colin Burke’s new collection includes knitted separates to pair with his iconic architectural-sleeve sweaters and cardigans. Marie Kelly meets the designer whose star continues to rise.

There aren’t many luxury fashion brands built on one signature product. Burberry did it, evolving its classic trench coat into a piece of fashion history, and Diane Von Furstenberg did it with an iconic wrap dress that elevated her from fashion designer to “the woman who reinvented the dress”. Just six years after founding his eponymous label, knitwear designer Colin Burke is garnering a reputation as ‘the man who reinvented the sweater’. His signature architectural-sleeve handknit sweater is a stunning piece of design, which attracts customers of every age and demographic.

It’s a remarkable achievement for anybody, but for a young designer from rural Claregalway who didn’t take an art class until his final year in secondary school, it’s extraordinary. Stocked exclusively in upmarket Dublin boutique Havana and Adare Manor in Limerick and sold via his website to countries as far afield as Toronto, Monaco, Brazil, Switzerland and the States, Burke’s sculptural sweaters have been photographed on celebrities from Nicola Coughlan and Kelly Rutherford to Roma Downey and are worn by Irish style influencers such as interior designer Róisin Lafferty and personal shopper Orla Sheridan.

Like DVF and Burberry, the 31-year-old’s ambitions stretch far beyond this one iconic design and for the first time, he has introduced an edit of knitted separates. “This 25-piece collection celebrates a total Colin Burke look,” says the NCAD graduate. “The design of each new piece feels as special to me as the jumper,” he adds. “They can be worn as part of a full look, but they are standout pieces on their own.”

My collections are all about engineering for the human form. I feel passionate about creating new shapes and I’m constantly trying to push silhouette in a direction it hasn’t been before.

His unique crochet puff-sleeve sweaters and cardigans are now complemented by two midi-length wool skirts, also available as a dress, and a shorter bubble-hem skirt. Burke has also introduced a couple of entry-level pieces this season, among them an aran knit pillbox hat. Made in the same yarn and colour story as the sweaters, the longer skirts are handknit in a diamond aran stitch – fittingly a symbol of wealth, success and abundance – with a distinctive zig-zag diamond hemline. 

Like the blackberry stitch that characterises his aran sweaters – a hallmark of handknitted garments – this hemline is Burke’s discreet guarantee that each skirt is made by human hands not industrial machines. “They’re crochet-trimmed and the zig-zag finish is difficult to replicate on a machine,” he explains. For the bubble-hem skirt, Burke has cleverly echoed the shape of his beloved sweater-sleeve silhouette, hemming it fully in the handcrafted blackberry stitch. 

These “identifiers” are crucial to Burke’s growing business, not just because they symbolise the premium nature of his handmade product in an industry overrun by mass-production but because they create instant brand recognition. “People immediately know a Colin Burke piece when they see it and this is really important for me. I want this awareness to continue with the new garments,” he explains. Although he considered working with fabric, he says his decision to continue with knitwear made sense for a variety of reasons. “It felt more ‘me’ to continue with knitwear; it’s what I’m passionate about, and there’s enough of an offering in tailoring. People can get that elsewhere,” he explains. 

It takes several months for Burke to develop a new design. He begins by sketching, then knits swatches in a variety of stitches before using them to develop shapes and silhouettes on a mannequin. “The design stages are very intense,” reveals the Galway native. “I try out a lot of different stitches because they all hold differently. I’ve got to be sure I’ve chosen the right one so each garment falls correctly when it’s worn. For the long skirts, I’ve run a mini cable stitch in between each diamond, which allows the skirt to sit beautifully.”

Burke describes himself as “an architect for the body”. “My collections are all about engineering for the human form. I feel passionate about creating new shapes and I’m constantly trying to push silhouette in a direction it hasn’t been before.” It’s the structural form of clothes that excites him and this is why his sweaters are renowned not just for their innovative aesthetic but for their comfort and wearability too. Like any architect worth their salt, form and function are equally important to Burke. “I made each skirt with a ribbed elasticated waistband so they’re easy to wear and to move in,” he explains, “and there’s a three-panel or four-panel design available, depending on the fit you prefer – the four panel is more oversized.” 

Burke experimented with a cotton version of the midi-length skirt this summer, selling it to private clients only, but he describes this developed wool version as a “more substantial item with stitches that are more defined”. Burke is not resting on the success of his signature sweater look either. Last year he developed a hooded version of the classic Maureen sweater, engineering the same volume and structure into a hood using an attractive honeycomb stitch, and this season, he’s created a new peplum swing cardigan. Constructed with a tight ribbed stitch at the waistline and using an aran fan stitch – a brand new stitch in Burke’s repertoire – this longer-length cardigan has a dramatic puffed-out silhouette.

“The reason I developed this shape below the waistline is because it feels totally new. I want to replicate the originality of my aran sweaters in every new piece. I don’t want to create simple clothes,” he says. The collection, which launches today [21 September] was photographed at Róisín Lafferty’s new design gallery in Fitzwilliam Square in Dublin. “I love how Róisín has experimented with materials like wood and granite and created a synergy between them. The space holds onto that sense of the past but celebrates the new. I feel like that’s what I do in my work,” he explains. 

Some of Burke’s regular clients have already had a preview of the collection and the response has been wonderful. “I’m lucky to have a lot of repeat customers,” says Burke. “They really connect with my work. For them, it feels like luxury and they come back season after season. They’re building their own collections,” he says proudly. 

Just like the DVF wrap dress in its heyday, one is never enough.

This article originally appeared in The Sunday Times Ireland, September 2025