THE first two weeks of September is traditionally when Irish designers unveil their autumn/winter collections, and long established couturier Thomas Wolfangel held the first fashion show of the week.
Always a refined, sophisticated affair, this year his morning show was attended by 350 of his loyal clientele who crowded into the Berkeley Court Hotel on Tuesday morning.
Thomas has the sort of high spending client list other designers turn this year's murky green for, and his discreet style has always been extremely popular, particularly among embassy women and in racing and political circles - he counts the wives of at least two ex Taoisigh, Maureen Haughey and Kathleen Reynolds, among his customers.
His titled clients turned out in force including Baroness Uli de Breffni, Eileen Countess Plunkett, Lady Carew and Lady Hempell. From the embassy circuit came Clara Zelada, wife of the Spanish ambassador and Francine Fobe, wife of the Belgian ambassador. Other Wolfangel devotees spotted in the summery looking audience were Frances Knott, Carmel Long, Monica McWeeney, Maureen Mullins, Jane Collins, Rosemary Hogan Eunice Darcy and Anne Corcoran. After the show the format followed other years with several ladies pausing for lunch before making their way around to Thomas's elegant salon on Pembroke Road to place their orders.
