Kilkenny maker shortlisted in DCCI 2025 Future Makers Awards 2025

A designer from Kilkenny has been shortlisted in this year's Design & Crafts Council Ireland’s Future Makers Awards 2025. 

Lydia Smith made the cut as the Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI) announced the shortlist for Future Makers Awards 2025, featuring up and coming designers and makers from across the country. Established in 2009, Future Makers is a Design & Crafts Council Ireland initiative which recognises talent, potential, and creativity.

It is a platform to showcase the talent of the next generation of makers, designers, and craftspeople looking to take the step from training into enterprise and it provides them with much-needed financial support. The Future Makers award winners will be announced at a special event in the RDS Dublin on Tuesday, September 9.
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Divided into student and emerging practitioner categories, Future Makers covers a wide range of disciplines and recognises vision, innovation and excellence among students and recent graduates. It is one of the largest prize-funded design and craft award programmes in Europe, with each winner receiving a mentoring package valued at €2,000 in addition to the award. In total, Future Makers offers an award fund of €25,000 and mentoring package of €52,000 in expert guidance and support to the award recipients.

This year’s competition saw an impressive range of entries from all around Ireland, each one demonstrating a unique approach to creating beautiful and functional works of art. From furniture and fashion design to ceramics and glassblowing, the shortlisted makers represent the most innovative and creative young designers and makers in Ireland, across both the student and emerging practitioner categories.

Judges this year include Victoria Donovan, a silversmith with almost 40 years’ experience and a recipient of the Kilkenny Design Workshops scholarship in 1986; Anneliese Duffy Fallon, owner of The Linen Shirt Company and founder of Fashion Connect Ireland; Leah Capaldi, a London-based artist celebrated for her pioneering work at the intersection of sculpture and performance; Brankica Zilovic, a French-Serbian artist and educator based in Paris; Belén Llamas-Ferrier, an art framer who has worked in the industry for more than 20 years and Róisín Pierce, who operates across multiple disciplines with a focus on material innovation and poetic forms.

Mary Blanchfield, CEO of Design & Crafts Council Ireland, said: "We are delighted to announce the shortlist for this year’s Future Makers awards. This initiative is one of the most important platforms Design & Crafts Council Ireland has to celebrate
and support emerging talent in Irish design and craft. The shortlisted makers represent the next generation of creative excellence - innovative thinkers and skilled craftspeople who are ready to take the significant step from training into enterprise.

"At Design & Crafts Council Ireland, we believe in nurturing potential and providing real opportunities for growth. Future Makers is not just about recognition, it is about tangible support, financial backing, and the chance to build a sustainable creative career. We are proud to stand behind these talented individuals as they begin their professional journey, and we look forward to seeing the incredible contributions they will make to Ireland’s vibrant design and craft sector in the years ahead."