Lou was the first Fashion/Textiles MA graduate from NCAD in 1996 where she went on to become the Textile Manager for John Rocha for a number of years. Since then she has combined her professional practice living and working internationally in London, Lyon and New York with some of the world’s best known fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen, Dolce Gabbana and Hussein Chalayan. Lou’s designs for Chalayan also gained her the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) Award for Innovative Fashion Textiles and are held in the prestigious V&A Archives in London.
As well as designing her own accessories collection Lou is a member of the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCI) and Visual Arts Ireland (VAI). In addition to previously being a visiting lecturer at The London College of Fashion and the University of Brighton, where Lou gained a 1st class (Hons) BA in Fashion/Textiles and Business Studies she has, for over 20 years, delivered workshops in textiles.
After graduating from NUIG in 2022 with a Professional Diploma in Education (FE) Lou joined MSLETB and worked at Davitt College teaching Art before joining Mayo College in 2023 where she teaches the Level 5 Fashion Design Course.
In her spare time Lou researches the history of Irish Textiles and has presented talks on this subject.