Sara Spencer's daughters, Issy and Aoife, are aged two and three, so she is well placed to source hard-wearing, cheerful clothes for children up to 12 years old, writes Patsey Murphy.
Lord knows, there aren't that many independent, Irish-owned retailers left, so you have to admire her tenacity for opening Pearl in Dublin's South King Street last Valentine's Day. She sells a number of international brands, and says Danish and Australian sizes suit the Irish baby better than perhaps petite French, Spanish and Italian labels. She's right there. Pearl is at 30a South King Street, Dublin 2 (086-3893657).