Having originally studied in Shannon College of Hotel Management Christine Murphy took the ‘less trodden path into the world of fashion. Working in the luxury hospitality industry for more than 20 years, Christine was involved in many hotel openings, from concept to final product, which incorporated the design spectrum, fostering a love of fabric, yarn and textiles. 

Having developed a love of colour and textiles, Christine returned to the West of Ireland under a flexible learning course at Limerick College of Art and Design.  Christine learnt how to deconstruct Aran stitching techniques.  Christine was fascinated by the experimentations learnt and began photographing professional art paintings adorning the walls of her home city. Waterford Walls initiative is a community programme in Waterford city inspiring cultural and colourful art on its city walls.

It was while enjoying a late pregnancy in her 40’s that Christine’s unique aesthetic and creative dream took shape and she took a leap of faith to have a midlife pivot in 2018. 

The experiences prompted her to pursue her real passion and set up her own fashion label, Urban Aran, which merges colourful close-ups of wall murals with heritage Aran stitchwork using jacquard knitting techniques on 3D knitting machines.

Through intuition and passion, Christine conceptualised her brand, a sophisticated ready-to-wear label specialising in knitwear made to last using the finest pure wool. Past heritage skills combine with contemporary design to make distinctive vibrant knitwear.