DEIRDRE McQUILLANdiscusses clothes
Eden on the move
Gillian Leavy of Eden in Dundalk is relocating her boutique and lifestyle emporium back to her original studio at 90 Clanbrassil Street in the town. A 19th-century townhouse with high ceilings, it is currently being transformed into an appealing retail space to house new and existing fashion labels such as See by Chloe, Alice by Temperley, 2812 and the Jackson Twins, along with her signature eclectic mix of accessories, shoes, homeware, gifts, children’s fashion and toys. See edenireland.com
Alice by Alice Temperley autumn/winer collection at Eden: Firebird leather dress (€640) worn over Tattoo Ladyfly top (€110)
Random beauty
There’s a sparkle in the eyes of Boodles bosses these days because, for the first time in the company’s 250-year history, a piece of its jewellery, the Raindance ring, has been selected by the VA to be part of the museum’s permanent exhibition. Created by resident designer Rebecca Hawkins, the Raindance five-stone ring costs just over €8,000 and is Boodles’s best-selling engagement ring in Ireland. Hawkins, who has been with the company for 20 years, recalled that the inspiration for the range came from observing water on a rock sculpture. “I wanted a random effect, balanced by asymmetry – in nature randomness is often perfect,” she says. She describes her jewellery style as elegant, curvaceous “and designed to endure”. See boodles.com
Customer to shop assistant in a fashion outlet in Kildare Village: “Please could I try on that black dress in the window?” Shop assistant to customer: “No, you can’t, you’ll have to use the dressing room like everybody else.” Ireland’s leading discount outlet certainly attracts the crowds; 11,000 turned up there on the August bank-holiday Monday. All sorts of plans are currently afoot to ramp up the menswear offer, with Hackett and Aquascutum recent additions, to be joined by Hugo Boss, Tommy and Barbour at the end of this month. There are now more than 60 boutiques. See kildarevillage.ie
Peter O'Brien sketchbook
Peter O’Brien’s new fashion collection for Arnotts is due to debut this month, and he has also been working on a new creative challenge, a coffee-table book of his artwork called Peter O’Brien: A Sketchbook, to be printed by fine art publishers Stoney Road Press next month. Comprising a mix of O’Brien’s original fashion and costume drawings and watercolours, with close-up photographs of fabric and textural detailing, the sketchbook will be a couture edition, printed on handmade paper, hand-bound and limited to 100 copies. A first for an Irish fashion designer, it will be a “sumptuous publication for specialists and collectors”, according to James O’Nolan of Stoney Road. The pre-publication price is a hefty €1,500. Celebrated milliner Stephen Jones is writing the introduction, with Paris-based Irish fashion journalist Karl Treacy conducting an interview with the designer. Two limited edition prints of 40 will also be specially created for the launch. Details from tramyardgallery.ie or tel: 01-8878544.
