Michael Stewart

Michael Stewart is an Irish fashion designer and the founder of Standing Ground. Born in County Clare in April 1989 and raised in Kilkishen, he studied fashion at Limerick School of Art and Design, graduating in 2013 after winning the institution’s graduate fashion show. He later moved to London for the MA Womenswear course at the Royal College of Art, supported in part by the inaugural Kildare Village Fashion Bursary, and completed the programme in 2017.

Stewart’s RCA collection drew on standing stones, geological time and the idea of an ancient future. He did not immediately establish a label, instead supporting himself through unnamed commercial high-street work while retaining an independent practice. Garments from the graduate collection appeared in Alastair White’s fashion opera Robe in 2019 and 2021, and Stewart completed custom work for Bianca Saunders before incorporating STANDING GROUND LTD in July 2021.

Standing Ground made its public debut through Fashion East in September 2022 and completed three incubator seasons before Stewart’s first solo runway in 2024. That year he received the inaugural LVMH Savoir-Faire Prize; subsequent work included an International Woolmark Prize project and an invited Guest House presentation during Paris Haute Couture Week in July 2026. Stewart remains the company’s founder, principal designer and active director.

Stewart develops garments through direct contact with cloth, draping on the stand or body until proportion emerges from the material itself. The method was consolidated at the Royal College of Art, where he concentrated on draping for two years. Ancient Irish monuments, standing figures and geological forms inform the placement of fabric around the hip and collarbone, giving his elongated gowns a controlled sense of movement.

His construction combines fluid surfaces with concealed architecture. Padded tubular bands, inset ridges and beads trapped between layers of jersey shape the silhouette without relying on conventional applied decoration. In some garments, hand-drawn contours are digitised to enforce symmetry before being stitched back into the cloth. Rigid waist pieces and other body ornaments are modelled by Stewart in clay, cast in fibreglass and resin, manually finished and chromed.

The practice is built around made-to-order work and direct clients rather than broad wholesale distribution. Stewart uses external craft only where a project requires a distinct expertise, retaining responsibility for the overall form while crediting specialists such as Maison Vermont, Mr Pearl and the Carrickmacross lacemakers for embroidery, corsetry and lace. This controlled scale allows fitting, repair, alteration and patient material development to remain part of the design process.