DEIRDRE MCQUILLANdiscusses all matters relating to clothes
Covetable jewels
What makes jewellery designer Annoushka Ducas’s style different is its spirit and personality. The woman who famously founded Links 15 years ago and then sold it for millions, now creates collections in gold under her own name that reference her Russian background and her travels. There’s wasn’t one viewer at her recent presentation in Dublin who didn’t instantly fall for something in her new collection, whether it was a milky diamond ring, soft and rounded to the touch, or the little gold medallions called “mythology tags” with words such as “I’ll Miss You” or other private messages. A tiny exquisite carp studded with silver and orange diamonds on a seed pearl chain was a reference to Chinese symbolism, and her collapsing flower shapes were captivating studies in exquisite craftsmanship. Prices start at €170 for a chain and €395 for engraved tags, and go up to €5,300 for this autumn leaves necklace in 18-carat yellow gold. the collection is in Brown Thomas, Dublin, from this month.
Dunne deal
The sales manager of Victoria Beckham’s fashion collection is Irishwoman Caroline Dunne, the 31-year-old daughter of Ben Dunne. She is based in London, where she was previously an accessories buyer for Matches, the fashion-forward boutique in Notting Hill. Dunne, who was at one stage considering the idea of setting up a magazine, has been with Victoria Beckham for three years, a period which has seen the burgeoning success of the label now designed and made in the UK with mostly Italian fabrics. With her cropped blonde hair and engaging smile, the publicity-shy Dunne, recently in Dublin to showcase the collection, looks not unlike the UK model Agyness Deyn. But an interview or photograph? No, no, no.
Sabo to open Dublin shop
With his thick moustache, long white wavy hair and a penchant for black sequinned jackets, burly Bavarian jeweller Thomas Sabo has the air of an unreformed 1960s hippie. But his eponymous jewellery brand, which he founded in 1984, has become a major international success story. The jewellery, made in Thailand in sterling silver, is designed by Susanne Kolbli. Kolbli joined the company as a graphic designer and brings her visual skills to everything from silver charms to elaborate statement pieces featuring gothic crosses and skulls in the new range called Rebel at Heart. The autumn/winter collection was launched in London in a former 19th-century church with Beth Ditto belting out her rock anthems from the altar. Here in Ireland the jewellery is sold in House of Fraser and elsewhere, but we’ll be hearing more about Sabo when a new shop opens in a couple of months time in a key location in Dublin. Watch this space.
