It’s not every day that a fashion show is held in a supermarket along with the fruit and vegetables, but then designer Joanne Hynes likes to do things differently. As the public perused for perishables, the grocery floor of Dunnes Stores flagship in St Stephen’s Green was used to launch her spring/summer collection. There were inflatable elephants, crocodiles, monkeys and palm trees with models – of all ages and colour - changing behind the fish counter.
The designer made headlines with her first collection for the retailer last year because of a 900 euro shearling coat - she’s got another one this time too.
The summer version comes in pale blue and pink, with additional pink and yellow puff balls, however, unlike last year's coat, this one is not reversible. Inflation perhaps? Shopper's might find the heavy coat a little hard to pull off, but model Lara McCann wore it beautifully with a wedding dress down the supermarket catwalk.
Called a “Rousseau Rendezvous” the influence of the post impressionist French painter, Henri Rousseau and his jungle paintings was something that chimed with the designer’s wayward spirit and way of looking at what fashion means to her. “I like the strangeness of his flowers, exotic shapes and the simplicity of his paintings as well as their darker side”, she said. “It’s a nice little narrative for what I am doing at the moment.”
In a show notable for dazzling colour and playful decor, that translated into t-shirts with Perspex moon shapes and lotus flowers, appliquéd sweatshirts in “rave” orange, royal blue and black dresses with studded collars and a dress made in India emblazoned with her signature “Tiger Lady” motif in sequins and embroidery. A silver and gold leather jacket panelled in clear green sequins was typical of her style and brio.
New this season was a lot of bold abstract print for multicoloured jersey dresses in 50s shapes and machine embroidered “jungle” jacquard coats along with very elaborately embellished jeans. The vibrant statements were throughout – striped knits, lilac laser cut coats lined with “rave” yellow power mesh, while also including a number of powerful black dresses – one with ruffles, the other with dayglo lined bell sleeves.
The more elaborate, expensive items were in limited editions along with new variations of her popular jewelled hairbands, ruffled neckpieces or collars that could be worn to jazz up an outfit, embroidered mules, some terrific Perspex jewellery, and zany Lurex socks.
Casting models of different ages reflected her insistence that her clothes are for all – “it is not a narrow customer base and I don’t want to be pigeonholed, but I do think about a woman who wants a summer t-shirt, a dress she can wear to work or going out and an investment piece. I like the idea of it being out of context – and not what you would expect from a Dunnes Stores collaboration”.
Prices start from €12 for socks up to €900 for the limited edition shearling coat. The collection is on sale in Grafton Street, Stephen’s Green and Cornelscourt and online at www.dunnesstores.com
