Photo: Cesar Buitrago Mgmt
Aisling Camps took an unconventional path to launching her fashion label. Already a recipient of the 2023 Fashion Trust U.S. Award and the 2024 CFDA Frazier Family Foundation Empowered Vision Award, the Trinidad-born designer started her career in a completely different field. She graduated from Columbia University in 2008 with a degree in mechanical engineering, focusing on sustainability. After finding work as an engineer during an economic downturn—a period she jokingly calls her “quarter-life crisis”—she followed her artistic instincts and enrolled in night classes at FIT. Visa issues later led her back to Trinidad, where the Aisling Camps label was born.
In Trinidad, Camps faced new challenges as a knitwear designer. Locals weren’t accustomed to thinking about classic knits in the tropical heat, and traditional materials were hard to come by. “I wasn’t buying wool or cashmere. I was using linen and tightly spun, textured cotton—dry yarns suited for 95-degree days,” she explains. These constraints sparked innovation, a spirit still evident in her designs today. Her fall 2026 ready-to-wear collection skillfully balanced exaggerated chunky knits with lightweight, versatile pieces like a long tank that can be wrapped around the body in multiple ways.
Camps’s creative vision and technical background helped her tackle these obstacles. Her engineering skills translated surprisingly well into subversive knitwear. “I nerded out on mastering the craft,” she says. Programming a loom felt familiar from her engineering days—the machines were different, but much of the language was the same. This fluency even proved invaluable when she moved part of her production to Italy.
Photo: Cesar Buitrago Mgmt
Today, Camps still handmakes 20% of her products—a significant undertaking for a growing brand sold at Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, and various boutiques, in addition to its Sag Harbor flagship. To scale the business, she expanded production overseas, spending a year in Italy attending Pitti Filati, learning the language, and mastering the technical terms needed to communicate with factory programmers. Since then, her brand has grown rapidly.
Camps recently celebrated her New York Fashion Week debut. Presented in an intimate salon setting, her collection brought her knitwear vision to the city. Amid a sea of minimalism, her pieces stood out with their playful flair. A chunky, shrunken macramé capelet was both editorial and functional, while a knit hoodie layered under a string bikini-like top challenged traditional seasonal notions of knitwear. “When people think of knitwear, they imagine classic shapes and stitches. I wanted to turn that on its head,” she says. “I wanted to create that tension.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Meet Aisling Camps designed to sound like questions from a curious public fashion enthusiast or aspiring designer
About Aisling Her Brand
Who is Aisling Camps
Aisling Camps is an Irish designer based in New York who originally trained as an engineer She pivoted to fashion using her technical background to create innovative architectural knitwear
Whats so special about her knitwear
Her pieces are known for being bold unconventional and sculptural She treats yarn like a building material creating exaggerated silhouettes intricate textures and pieces that are more like wearable art than traditional sweaters
What does engineerturneddesigner mean for her work
It means she approaches design with a problemsolving technical mindset She understands structure tension and geometry in a way that allows her to push knitting machines to their limits and create shapes that are difficult to achieve
Where can I buy her designs
Her collections are typically available through select highend boutiques and her official website following their Fashion Week debut They are considered luxury investment pieces
About New York Fashion Week
Is she showing a full collection at NYFW
Yes she has been invited to present her latest collection on the official NYFW schedule which is a major milestone for any designer marking her arrival on the global fashion stage
What can we expect from her NYFW show
Expect a dramatic presentation that highlights the sculptural quality of her work It will likely be more of an artistic installation than a traditional runway focusing on the movement and form of her unconventional knits
Why is showing at NYFW such a big deal
NYFW is one of the Big Four global fashion events It provides immense exposure to top buyers editors and celebrities which can define a designers career and commercial success
For Fashion Enthusiasts Aspiring Designers
Whats a common misconception about knitwear that she challenges
That knitwear is just for comfort or basics She proves it can be the main eventavantgarde structural and central to a highfashion look
How does she blend art and wearability
While her pieces are artistic they are engineered to be worn She focuses