Dublin Fashion Festival Part 1:
In case you live under a rock with no wifi you wouldn’t have known that last week in Dublin City centre was Dublin Fashion Festival. This meant lights, camera, action…literally!! It also meant style, glamour, shows and after parties. The cream of the fashion crop were out in force for the four day festival and we at Siopaella were only delighted to be included in that.
There were definite highlights from the festival which included Courtney Smith’s H&M jacket and Ciaran Gormley’s stunning masterpiece, all of which will be discussed in the blog.
There was something for everyone during this year’s event including free manicures and make overs on the Evokebus, fashion shows on Dublin’s two busiest shopping streets and also an opportunity for young designers to showcase their tremendous talent.
It was this talent that kicked off the festival. On Thursday evening College Green was transformed into the most amazing location for the Young Designer of the Year show. The fashion Gods smiled down on us as we were graced with a beautiful evening with not one drop of rain. To this day I am still scratching my head wondering what would have happened if it had rained??
The style on the night was outstanding. International stylist and Siopaella favourite Courtney Smith looked stunning (as always) in a faux fur H&M jacket which was picked as one of her “Courtney Covets”; a collaboration between Courtney and H&M in which she picked out her favourite pieces from their A/W line.
Other stunners were Brian Conway who looked as dashing and handsome as ever, Tanith McGrath (Rough-Dreams) and Corina Gaffey (Eileen was fan girling over her 60s look and we don’t blame her).
Cocktails, using Dingle Vodka, were provided by Lillie’sBordello and they were delicious. After some snaps and a quick interview of me and Eileen by Dominique McMullan for the Irish Times, which you can catch here, it was time for the show to begin.
The night was hosted by our favourite fashion duo, Brendan Courtney and Sonya Lennon. The first show consisted of entries by twelve young designers all fighting it out to be crowned with the title of Young Designer of the Year and for a chance for a photo-shoot with the one and only Barry McCall.
All of the designs were truly breath-taking but the prize on the night went to Mr Ciaran Gormley (remember that name) who is a student at the University of Belfast. His design of a cobalt blue knitted dress modelled by the fierce Teodora Sutra opened the show. There were nods of approval throughout the audience.
A second show on the night previewed looks from Lennon Courtney, Brown Thomas Create and Clerys. Before the night I thought I couldn’t be more excited for A/W fashion but oh no how I was wrong. I am a winter baby so please pass me all of the knits, coats and boots…NOW!
There was an after party hosted at Lillies Bordello but with another night of fashion festivities all of us at Siopaella decided to call it a night and get some beauty sleep for the next night (I know hard to believe?!).
For scandal on the second night of DFF which was hosted in Powerscourt Town Centre be sure to check out my next blog.
Ciara x
