Finnerty Mackay on crafting kink

For Finnerty, being creative is in his blood. “I learned to draw long before I knew how to read and write. Everyone in my family is involved with some form of art.” Still, his commitment to fashion wasn’t love at first sight: “I hate shopping, I don’t care about what I wear; I was never interested in style.” But things changed after he did his foundation year. Primarily focused on producing beautiful things, he discovered fashion’s infinite options. “There are numerous possibilities within a single jacket. It perfectly balances craft and self expression.”

“While Westminster and Central Saint Martins shout a lot, I felt Kingston was quieter – separate from the industry’s pressures.” – Finnerty Mackay

Finnerty’s initial interest never faded. Instead, it grew in proportion to the time he dedicated to it. When the time had come to pick a school, he wanted to go somewhere that would allow him to meditate on his newfound craft. “While Westminster and Central Saint Martins shout a lot, I felt Kingston was quieter – separate from the industry’s pressures.” Even if he looks back fondly at his school time, he recognizes that the biggest lessons were taught outside of it. While still studying, he did an internship at Harris Reed during the development of the brand’s first collection. Then, he was pattern cutting for Sarah Burton’s last collection at Alexander McQueen, followed by intimately working with Ludovic de Saint Sernin on his Spring/Summer 2023 collection. Currently, he’s interning at Mugler.

“I look at subjects that are hard to digest through the lens of craft. I find that it makes it easier to understand their nuanced beauty.” – Finnerty Mackay

Despite the impressive resume, the young designer confesses that his most valuable work experience was far outside the luxury circuit. “During Covid, I worked at a family friend’s queer fetish company that makes bespoke latex and leather clothing. I found my queer family there. They invited me to the world of the sexually explicit, and introduced me to my biggest influence: London’s kink community.” But Finnerty Mackay’s inspiration isn’t – kink is not an aesthetic he emulates, but a freedom he wants to provide. Structured leather coats are sensually tantalising, worn completely closed, as if patiently waiting to be thrusted open and expose the naked body. See-through gowns are riddled with straps, reminiscent of bondage ropes. Speaking of his BA collection, he says, “I wanted to make a collection that was central to oneself. My clothes are not for the people who look at you, they’re for you.”

Beyond the sexual freedom his clothes transmit, he cites Savile Row as his second inspiration. “I’ve always admired their precision, it goes back to my love of craft for the sake of craft.” His collection is not an exploration of the dichotomy between structure and freedom but a reconciliation of the relationship between the two. “I look at subjects that are hard to digest through the lens of craft. I find that it makes it easier to understand their nuanced beauty.”

“I’m obsessed with overengineering a garment to make it ten times harder to sew. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like that my trousers reveal the butt, you can never say they’re not well made.” – Finnerty Mackay

His insistence on displaying his craft is not frivolous. “I’m obsessed with overengineering a garment to make it ten times harder to sew. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like that my trousers reveal the butt, you can never say they’re not well made.” He wields his confidence as a shield. “The biggest challenge for a young designer is self-worth,” he says, and shares his experience as a recent graduate. “There’s so much expectation on young designers that by the time they leave school, they’ve been shoved out of a plane with no parachute. It’s hard to know how to value yourself. Is the value in where you’re working? Is it that you’re killing yourself for free? It’s soul crushing to realise that the industry isn’t made to be sustainable, but that it’s built to go through internships every six months.” His realisations are based on the void between fashion school and the industry. Despite his extensive work experience, the designer only graduated five months ago. “I’m feeling the wake-up call everyone has on their first job: the realisation that you have to start at the bottom.”