Model Agneta Mukauskaite wears a pink silk and cashmere cardigan with gold crochet cuff over a turquoise cashmere and lambswool dress with a set of matching scarves by designer Heather Finn (left) at the Loft in the Powerscourt Centre, Dublin, at a fashion show that coincided with a briefing by the Council of Irish Fashion Designers yesterday. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien

DEIRDRE McQUILLAN, Fashion Editor

‘SIXTEEN IRISH fashion designers, members of the recently formed Council of Irish Fashion Designers, yesterday unveiled a small preview of their winter collections in the Loft in the Powerscourt Centre, Dublin, along with a number of forthcoming promotional fashion initiatives.

Eddie Shanahan, chairman and co-founder with designer Eilis Boyle, said the council aimed to be an authoritative voice with State agencies, retailers, the media and other industries. “We are offering a forum for people in the business to explore common problems and opportunities,” he said.

Those showing items from their winter collections ranged from knitters Lucy Downes, Heather Finn and Edmund McNulty with diverse and sophisticated approaches to yarn, to couturier Jen Kelly with his elaborate handmade silk and velvet ballgowns, award-winning Delphine Grandjouan’s bijou lace dresses and Richard Lewis’s signature jerseys. Newcomer Sinéad Doyle fused corsetry and tweed while Emma Kate Manley brought a modern urbanity to studded leather and jersey ensembles. Read More…