New Arrivals – 1866 Life

Design February 17, 2022

Introducing Spring/Summer 2022

Introducing the Magee 1866 Spring/Summer 2022 Collection – COAST 

Inspired by over 1,000 kilometres of Donegal coastline, where we have been designing, weaving and tailoring luxurious fabrics for five generations.

“Spring Summer 2022 was designed with hope in mind following the long months of a pandemic that has turned the world upside-down. While working on the collection we had taken time to watch spring slowly appearing following a winter of uncertainties. The idea of a fresh start and new life are the core elements in our colourful and optimistic collection for SS22. 
We have looked at how we have adapted over the last couple of years, especially what we are wearing. The emphasis on casual wear has accelerated and we have embraced this more relaxed, comfortable approach in this collection with Irish linen shirts and drawstring trousers, luxury cashmere jumpers, sweats and colourful cotton polos and t-shirts. 
However, we are looking forward to dressing up again! Our tailored collection includes classic lightweight tweeds and summer weight jackets, but with a focus on unstructured silk and linen blend jackets styled with lightweight cotton chinos and printed shirts.”
Classic patterns sit beside bold and oversized checks in this collection with the colour pallet inspired by the sea and land. Sea blues, mossy greens, earthy oats, peaty browns are accented by the colours of local flora like gorse, fuchsia, blackberry, moss and montbretia that were historically used to create the colourful speckles synonymous with Donegal Tweeds. “
-Design Director, and 5^th generation family member, Charlotte Temple reflects on the design process.

Cheerful, bright colours of raspberry pink, sunset orange, naval and sea blues are contrasted in this collection with timeless, neutral shades of natural linen oat, sky grey, olive and forest greens. While the fabrics focus on natural fibres – silk, cotton, cashmere, linen, merino and lambswool, much of which is designed and woven at our mill in Donegal, Ireland.

Women’s Collection

A new addition to the range of knitwear is a luxurious cotton cashmere blend in four styles This season sees a host of new additions to the women’s collection. The Aoife is a preppy, short unstructured jacket in a micro houndstooth silk and cotton blend tweed and is complemented by a beautiful range of luxurious lightweight cashmere knitwear.

The Rebecca shirt dress is a standout piece, available in three colours ranging from calming pale blue Irish linen to a vibrant Liberty of London print. The Liberty of London pieces don’t end there, the new Patty top will add a burst of colour to your wardrobe and the easy to wear Tessa tunic will become your go-to top for trips to the beach. Women’s collection favourites like the Emma and Grace coats return in fresh, new lightweight tweeds, designed and woven at our mill.

Men’s Collection

Ireland’s unpredictable weather is taken into account in the Men’s collection, the timeless Glenveigh quilted jacket is joined by a new style, the Dingle, a 4-pocket showerproof unstructured jacket, available in two colours. 

Familiar tailored styles like the Liffey Jacket are reimagined in a summery mix of linen and silk blends, woven in house, with a new addition, the Adare, a soft unstructured jacket that offers a comfortable, put together look. Making a triumphant return to the men’s collection after a long absence, men’s shorts, in cotton chino or linen, are accompanied by a selection of t-shirts, polos and the softest cotton sweatshirts.

Irish Linen

Natural fibre fabrics are central to our collections and this season is no exception with Irish Linen making up a large part of Spring Summer for both men and women.

The ultimate versatile fabric, linen is synonymous with summer and perfect whether you’re relaxing on the beach or working in the city. Crafted in Irish Linen, woven and finished at the Magee weaving mill in Donegal, highlights include the Rowan overshirt for men, the Mourne boyfriend fit jacket for women, drawstring trousers for both and for the ultimate in summer chic, the Finn suit in a dark inky blue linen, perfect for a special occasion.

This collection is designed to maximise your summer and as always, each quality piece is made with longevity in mind. 

Shop in store or online from February.

Photography: Suzy McCanny 

Videography: Ciarán Carty 

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Autumn Winter 2021 August 20, 2021

Introducing Autumn/Winter 2021

Introducing the Magee 1866 Autumn/Winter 2021 Collection – ‘Home’

The inspiration behind the Magee 1866 Autumn/Winter 2021 collection is ‘Home’ – home being Co. Donegal where we have been designing, weaving and tailoring luxurious fabrics for five generations.

Design Director, and 5^th generation family member, Charlotte Temple reflects.

“Working on this collection in 2020, in the depths of a global pandemic, has made us appreciate where we live even more than ever. The various lockdowns, in a way, forced a new familiarity with our immediate surroundings and offered a new opportunity to observe and engage with the landscape. Details one would gloss over in the hustle and bustle of regular life came into sharp focus, the bright red autumn berry peeping through the hedgerows, the changing colour of bracken on the hills – summer greens to a burnt rust, the reflection of the sun on the sea in the early morning light.”
“These are the same landscapes that have inspired our tweeds for decades. This collection embraces our own natural fibre fabrics, designed and woven at our mill in Donegal Town. We have delved into our archives and reinvigorated the classics. Herringbones – an age-old pattern inspired by fish bones and Salt & Pepper, a simple yet intricate pattern rich with colourful flecks – the true Donegal Tweed.”

Classic patterns sit beside bold and oversized checks in this collection with the colour pallet inspired by the sea and land. Sea blues, mossy greens, earthy oats, peaty browns are accented by the colours of local flora like gorse, fuchsia, blackberry, moss and montbretia that were historically used to create the colourful speckles synonymous with Donegal Tweeds.

The Men’s outerwear stands out as an exclusive selection of Donegal Tweed overcoats, classic wool city coats and quilted jackets, one of the highlights being the new Brosna coat, an oversized tweed belted overcoat in a statement plaid check. In a continuation of the commitment to developing Irish wool for use in their textiles – with wool sourced from Irish sheep and spun and woven in Donegal – the latest addition to the Magee 1866 X Irish Wool collection is the Irish Wool Erne, a short, contemporary Donegal Tweed overcoat in a rich red, green, grey and navy check.

A new addition to the range of knitwear is a luxurious cotton cashmere blend in four styles and four timeless colours. Lightweight and soft, these pieces pair beautifully with one of the Donegal Tweed jackets or Gilets in the collection. The Pettigo ribbed crew neck, a two-tone contemporary style, makes a statement.

Casual styles like the Corlea grandfather collar shirt in the Liberty of London print “Ernest’s Adventure” sit alongside Handwoven Donegal Tweed jackets and our signature, sophisticated suits with a focus on fit and comfort.

Two new styles join the women’s outerwear collection- “The Josie” is a contemporary short Donegal Tweed coat in a warm red herringbone, a bright and easy to wear number for your winter wardrobe.

In a continuation of the commitment to developing Irish wool for use in our textiles – with wool sourced from Irish sheep and spun and woven in Donegal – the second new style is the “Irish Wool Jessica”, a classic swing coat in a timeless red plaid, the perfect style for winter race meets or days outdoors. Classic styles like the Emma, Linsfort and Grace, a long, hacking style coat, return in new tweeds, designed and woven in Donegal.

This season, preppy short tweed jackets and printed shirts are complemented by a beautiful knitwear collection featuring luxurious cashmere blends and chunky Donegal handknits. Cashmere/merino knits, made in Scotland, offer cloud-like softness in three different styles – crewneck, funnel neck and a casual Fair Isle. Light enough to style under a Donegal Tweed Jacket, these luxurious, versatile pieces are designed to seamlessly integrate into your wardrobe and keep you cozy on long country walks.

Shop in store or online from August.

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Magee 1866 May 20, 2021

Our Stores

After a long break, due to restrictions in response to the pandemic, our three stores are now back open and to say we are excited is an understatement!

As a 5^th generation family business, our customers are so important to us, over the years we have built up strong relationships and we are delighted to be able to reconnect again face-to-face.

We are very proud of our stores and teams who deliver a very special Magee 1866 experience, if you haven’t visited before, let us introduce you.

MAGEE OF DONEGAL

The Magee of Donegal store has stood on the same site on The Diamond in Donegal town since first opened as a draper’s store by John Magee in the 1800’s.

At that time business owners lived over their premises with their family and staff, one census records 12 residents including the Magee family, two milliners, four apprentices and John Magee’s draper’s assistant and cousin – Robert Temple, who went on to buy the business in 1900 and whose family are still at the helm today – Lynn, Charlotte, Paddy and Rosy.

Magee was founded on handwoven tweed and our weaving mill located just across the river from the shop on the banks of the River Eske, is still the beating heart of everything we do.

A true destination shopping experience, at Magee of Donegal we showcase our Magee 1866 men’s and women’s collections alongside our accessories and home interiors collections – designed and made in Ireland. Our Made to Measure area offers an oasis of calm while you select the perfect combination of luxury fabrics and trims for your own tailor-made pieces.

We also showcase various complementary brands across men’s, women’s and gifts. While closed we were busy working behind the scenes, updating the store and adding new brands and spaces for customers to explore. The biggest update was moving our gifts to the ground floor, giving more room to our special selection of Irish brands.

The Weaver’s Loft Bistro* focuses on a seasonal menu and home baking and is the perfect stopover for tired shoppers. * Currently closed in line with Government restrictions.

MAGEE 1866 AT ARNOTTS

Our first store outside of Donegal, Magee 1866 at Arnotts opened in 1997 and specialises in our men’s collection – originally, we focused on suits and jackets but now over half the space is dedicated to our casual collection.

We have been specialising in exquisite tailoring for over 150 years, our Made to Measure experts are passionate about tailoring and are on hand to help you find the perfect fit. Book an appointment here.

MAGEE 1866 OF SOUTH ANNE STREET

Our flagship store, Magee 1866 at South Anne Street was opened in 2016 to mark our 150th anniversary.

Over two floors, you enter the world of Magee 1866. The space is designed to reflect the Magee 1866 lifestyle – casual styles sit side by side with tailoring across both our men’s and women’s collections. True to our Donegal Tweed roots, an old swatch book from our mill is proudly on display.

South Anne Street also offers our extensive selection of accessories and home interiors along with our Made to Measure service, making it a one stop shop for quality Irish design in the heart of Dublin city centre.

The site of many launches, fashion shows and events over the past number of years, we look forward to gatherings again in not-too-distant future.

The health and well-being of our customers and our teams remains a priority. The current government guidelines around the wearing of masks and social distancing applies in all our stores.

If you have any enquiries our customer service team will be happy to help, simply get in touch via our social media or email info@magee1866.com. To make an appointment for our Made to Measure service, please book online or enquire in store.

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Design May 12, 2021

Introducing the Magee 1866 Summer 2021 Collection

Introducing the Magee 1866 Summer 2021 Collection ‘Halcyon Days’.

Summer always brings forth feelings of nostalgia for carefree days gone by, long sunny afternoons spent outdoors, the halcyon days of our youth. This year we harnessed this calm nostalgia and used it as inspiration for our Summer 2021 collection.

Living in Donegal we are spoiled with stunning landscapes – wonderous beaches and magical forests. In this collection we are capturing the freedom of the outdoors with bright colours combined with misty shades in our natural fibre fabrics, designed and woven at our mill.

Our men’s collection evokes an effortless calm with suave silk blends and casual Irish linens. This collection pays reverence to the nature we enjoy on our doorstep through colour, texture and the celebration of our own beautiful fabrics sustainably woven in Donegal.

Sage and mossy greens are accented with earthy tones in our stand-out silk and cotton blend herringbone Liffey Jacket, a lightweight alternative to Donegal Tweed. Our popular Cavan Gilet returns in a silk blend oceanic blue and pairs beautifully with a casual linen shirt for effortless summer style.

Lightweight tweeds are complimented by soft casual shirts in fun vintage prints and sun kissed hues. Combined with our range of bright cotton knits, this is an easy to wear collection with lots of personality.

Our blushing w omen’s Collection is inspired by the fragile beauty of woodland flowers and sun-bleached shades. A world in dreamy soft focus.

Key pieces include the Emma Coat in two misty shades of blue and grey, the first pieces in our new Magee 1866 X Irish Wool collection that sees wool sourced, spun, designed and woven in Ireland.

The longline Moyne Silk Blend Jacket in sky blue herringbone, offers a confident, tailored look when styled with the matching Tina Trousers. This suit looks just as put together paired with heels or crisp white trainers.

Liberty of London prints compliment the collection with watercolour and hand-painted florals, providing pops of unexpected summer colour in Liberty’s signature Tana Lawn Cotton.

Sustainability is at the heart of what we do at Magee 1866, and we are constantly inspired by the beautiful landscape that surrounds Donegal. Irish linen features heavily throughout the collection, in our range of men’s shirts as well as the fabrics woven at our mill in Donegal.

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