\u201cIn the aftermath of losing Arwen, one of the main sources of comfort for us was Pieta\u2019s post-suicide bereavement counselling,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have to make sure that this service continues to be provided for other families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arwen was \u201ca sparkly person\u201d, her mother recalls. At 23, she was working as a physiotherapist and a yoga instructor. \u201cShe was beautiful and funny and clever.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Arwen](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/M5GAA7EWSFB6HJNEO6DCVSZX2I.jpeg\")
Arwen Sullivan <\/p>\n
Marie says that when Arwen died, the \u201cdevastation was enhanced by the situation at the time\u201d, the Covid-19 pandemic. \u201cWe could only have 10 people at the funeral, we couldn\u2019t have neighbours or friends in to give us a hug or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
After six months, Marie was \u201cdriven by the need to do something to honour\u201d her daughter. <\/p>\n
Arwen was \u201calways serving looks\u201d, she says. \u201cShe\u2019d go into college, she went to RCSI, she\u2019d have her high boots, sparkly dresses\u201d. <\/p>\n
Arwen was also passionate about sustainable fashion, and was a big fan of buying second-hand clothes through the resale app Depop. <\/p>\n
[\u00a0The future of fashion: \u2018Clothes banks are overflowing with crap. We can\u2019t keep exporting it abroad\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Marie got talking to a friend who put her in contact with journalist Anne-Marie Tomchak, who has worked with British Vogue, RT\u00c9 and the BBC. Tomchak came up with the idea of having 20 famous Irish women donate items from their wardrobe to be sold on Depop, to raise money for Pieta House. People could shop the wardrobes of singer Una Healy, presenter and stylist Celia Holman Lee and media personality Laura Whitmore, among others. <\/p>\n Since then, a ShareJoy website has been launched where people can continue to buy from the wardrobes of Irish stars. A number of Irish designers have donated pieces too, including Caroline Duffy, Colin Horgan and Cobblers Lane. <\/p>\n The collection has expanded to men\u2019s wear too. \u201cWe actually still have a shirt from Bressie [for sale], a lovely Vivienne Westwood\u201d, Marie says. \u201cRyan Tubridy gave me a Hugo Boss jacket and a lovely Late Late show jumper to sell.\u201d <\/p>\n Marie says the initiative has allowed her to keep her relationship with Arwen alive. \u201cI had read a thing about grief, it said that when you lose somebody you love you have to recreate that relationship with them\u201d, she says. \u201cThis is my new relationship with Arwen.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been incredibly important in my healing, and my ability to carry on without her,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n [\u00a0The shocking waste in the clothes we wearOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n In collaboration with Ail\u00eds Crowley of Fash Forward, which works with people and businesses to embrace sustainability through workshops, training and consultancy, Marie will host a denim-mending workshop at DIFW. Mending experts will be on hand to teach people how to repair any wears and tears in their clothing. There will also be a preloved clothing rail at the workshop, with all proceeds going to Pieta House.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have so much in common\u201d, says Marie of Crowley. Fash Forward was created to honour Crowley\u2019s late father. The pair hope to create a positive impact at DIFW through their promotion of both mental health and the environment. <\/p>\n The Mindful Mending: Denim-Repair Workshop and Pre-Loved Clothing Rail will take place as part of DIFW in the Arthaus Hotel, Dublin, on Friday between 2.30 and 4.30pm. All proceeds from clothing sales will go to Pieta House. <\/p>\n If you are affected by any issue in this article, please contact Pieta House at 1800 247 247<\/a> or text \u2018HELP\u2019 to 51444<\/a> (standard text msg rates apply), or contact the Samaritans by telephoning 116123 or by e-mailing jo@samaritans.ie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marie Sullivan and her daughter Arwen used to bond over fashion. \u201cA huge part of our relationship together…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,117,2215,19,17,167,15525,1373],"class_list":{"0":"post-86231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-for-you","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-mental-health","14":"tag-pieta-house","15":"tag-sustainability"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}