Whether Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri is familiar with WB Yeats’ poem “Leda and the Swan” is open for debate. However, she clarified that it was the Greek myth of the same name which inspired the final frothy exit of Dior’s recent Cruise 2022 show, not the iconic dress designed by Marjan Pejoski as worn by Icelandic singer Bjork to the Oscars in 2001. Dior’s white tiered tulle dress, with a swan’s neck coiled around that of the model completed with white “wings”, is apparently inspired by two strong women, Dior revealed in an Instagram post. “A recreation of a costume once worn by actress and renowned client Marlene Dietrich, whose androgynous style happened to inspire the collection’s soft and slouchy tailoring, the swan additionally alludes to Leda, the Spartan queen of myth also referenced in motifs.”

Dior Cruise 2022

As a universal symbol of effortless grace in many Gaelic and Irish tales, swans appear as messengers. Their message is mainly of love; and the love that already exists within each of us. Well, I love swans and predict that we will see a lot more swan-inspired sartorial froth in coming months, mirroring the increase in Ireland’s swan population.

According to BirdWatch Ireland’s 8th International Swan Census 2020 (it happens every five years), a total of 19,111 Whooper swans, which breed in Iceland during the summer and spend the winter in Ireland, were recorded – the highest number ever. There are some 550 flocks (also known collectively as a bevy or glide) on the island with the largest numbers to be found in wetlands along the river Shannon.

Meissen swans at Valentino’s Château de Wideville, France.

Fashion designers have always been inspired by the elegance of swans. On the front of her designer jeans, Gloria Vanderbilt included an embroidery of a gold swan. Swarovski’s iconic swan logo has been reimagined this year by its new creative director Giovanna Englebert. The new streamlined logo depicts a swan poised to take flight, reinforcing the 126-year-old brand’s forward momentum.

The powder room at Annabel’s, London.

In rarefied circles, swan faucets are the ne plus ultra of decorating. To wit, Christian Dior’s obituary in The New York Times (1957) which revealed: “Behind the vast Dior enterprises was always the plump, pink-cheeked master, who twice each year went into seclusion to create the newest designs. And much of that time each year he spent in the bathtub, usually his Empire tub of green marble lined with silvery metal and fitted with swan’s-head faucets.”

The legendary gold swan faucets at the Ritz Paris featured as part of interior designer Martin Brudnizki’s recent renovation of the posh powder rooms at Annabel’s, London. Brudnizki describes the décor with its shell-shaped sinks with gold swanshaped taps, marble flooring and a pink silk rose ceiling “like falling down a rabbit hole”. Equally opulent is Mr Valentino’s Château de Wideville in Crespières, France, filled with beautiful objets including an impressive collection of Meissen swans, many of which populate his tablescapes. Though I have not yet added a Meissen, I have started a collection of ceramic swans inspired by Scarlet & Violet – Kate Moss’s favourite florists – who use them for window dressing and interesting arrangements.

Irish designer Sara O’Neill is also a swan enthusiast. Her passion, ignited by a childhood swan Keyper toy and Margot Fonteyn’s performance of Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, inspired her designs. The Children of Lir legends, in which the children were turned into swans by their father’s second wife Aoife, are also a source. “When I moved to the north coast seven years ago, and spent time exploring the coastline, these stories came back to me. I started to work on illustrations, then fabric prints, and Éadach was born,” says O’Neill. Swan motifs adorn her scarves, kimonos and bespoke leather jackets.

I am reminded of the swan’s shapeshifting abilities when practicing the swan pose in Pilates – a great exercise for stretching the spine (I always hope it elongates my neck too). Marella Agnelli, one of Truman Capote’s stylish society “swans”, was noted for her long neck. Many of Marella’s friends and fellow swans are captured in Slim Aarons: Style published this month by Abrams. I will be studying their form; the swan, whether bird or human, makes the sublime look easy; all the hard work is done in the shadows. Lest I get too carried away, Maeve Binchy’s words resonate: “I don’t have ugly ducklings turning into swans in my stories. I have ugly ducklings turning into confident ducks.”

Giorgio Armani Privé

WHERE TO FIND THE SWAN

WALLPAPER: Nina Campbell’s Sylvana Swan Lake comes in a variety of background shades and features pearlescent swans, £86 per roll; shop.ninacampbell.com. FAUCETS: Gowe’s deck-mounted brass swan faucet with crystal handle sink mixers, £316; www.directnine.uk. PHOTOGRAPHS: Irish photographer Giles Norman has a series of swan images captured in Kinsale, St Stephen’s Green and London. Framed from €110; www.gilesnorman.com. PRINTS: Part of Lino Cut Studio’s poetry collection, I recommend the Wild Swans At Coole, €50 unframed print; www.linocutstudio.com. And Louise Leonard’s “Plucking Good”; www.graphicstudiodublin.com. DECORATIONS: Order Katie Larmour’s swan decorations made from linen, £15; www.katielarmour.com. ACCESSORIES: Set of two Art Deco doorhandles, £60; black swan storage pot, £45, both www.rockettstgeorge.co.uk. PENDANTS: Black swan pendant, Swarovski, €79; www.weirandsons.ie.