Julie Danz, exhibitor at the Motorola Dublin Fashion Week, Fitzwilliam Hotel
While international designers such as Matthew Williamson will be jetting in with their collections for Dublin Fashion Week, the event is arguably more important to the young Irish designers chosen to exhibit. As part of this year's event, Brown Thomas is running a designer mentor programme. Directors Stephen Sealey and Shelly Corkery will meet Irish designers to discuss their collections and to offer advice, after which designers will be selected to showcase their autumn collections in Brown Thomas's Grafton Street store.
Juvi Designs, run by a young Irish couple Julie Danz and Vincent Tynan, is one of the exhibitors. Its handmade jewellery uses sterling silver, semi-precious stones, Swarovski crystals, beads and fresh water pearls. They set up Juvi three years ago after a trip to South America, where Danz says "the stone shops were like walking into a sweet shop. I was working in interior design in New York and had had enough of it. My husband is a silversmith, so we decided to do something together. Everything is limited edition - no more than 10 of any one piece." Exhibitors also have an opportunity to meet buyers, stylists and press. "It's such an important week for us. We wouldn't expect to get loads of orders or anything - it's more about publicity, which is so important for a growing company."
And the mentoring programmes? "Just to talk to people like Stephen and Shelley will be really useful. To get advice on how much people spend, how to make our product available to the masses, what major department stores expect from you as a supplier. That kind of thing." The lure of having their products in Brown Thomas is important. "To be associated with a high quality brand like Brown Thomas would have a huge impact on our business."
Julie has another big week coming up in May. "I'm seven months' pregnant, which makes doing events like this all the more interesting! I suppose I will be more tired than normal, but the show must go on!" www.juvidesigns.com