This afternoon the fashion designer Paul Costelloe intends to visit Brown Thomas in Dublin. Will he be smuggled into the building through a rear entrance? Has the department store arranged extra security for the occasion? Will he be so heavily disguised as to be unrecognisable?

Not at all. In a bravado display of chutzpah, Costelloe intends to saunter on to the premises just like everyone else and face his critics fearlessly.

This is bravery of an exceptional kind. After all, earlier this week Paul Costelloe unwittingly assumed the mantle of Most Reviled Man in Ireland. On airwaves and in print, he was ceaselessly denounced for daring to insult the honour of Irish Womanhood and has now, in effect, a fashion fatwa placed on his head. To turn up at Brown Thomas, where his clothes occupy a prominent position on the first floor, is therefore something of a risk.

For readers who have managed to avoid hearing of this furore, perhaps a brief recap might be helpful. In the Sunday Times last weekend, Costelloe aired his views on the latest issue of Image featuring 90 women it described as being among Ireland's most stylish.

While his opinions were trenchant, they were by no means completely damning. He did not describe Irish women as dirty slatterns, suggest they were a disgrace to their sex and race or call them ill-dressed, ill-mannered or ill-favoured. On the contrary, he said they are "the most charming, warm and beautiful in the world". In addition, according to Costelloe, Irish women are "essentially uncomplicated, feminine and beat all others in most areas: wit, warmth, ambition, natural beauty".

As compliments go, that one seems pretty effusive.

But - and this is where gravest offence was taken - he also commented that style is not a natural characteristic of the Irish female. Immediately, every woman in the country who has ever invested in a gilt-chain handbag and boucle suit felt personally aggrieved. Did Paul Costelloe not understand: Irish women are flawless, sans pareil and each one of them like a pearl without price?

Understandably, in the wake of his remarks and the response they evoked, the designer this week was simultaneously bemused and amused. Since he now spends Monday to Friday in London where his company is based - "I'm glad I'm over here" - much of the debate was relayed second-hand, but he obviously heard enough to know his remarks had not been received kindly.

How did he feel about the response? "I was amazed and interested," he told The Irish Times. "I did think it was over the top and I was disappointed some journalists hadn't read the full article but just a few sensational bits and then commented."

He was also surprised at the reported reactions of a number of other Irish designers, "friends in the industry, who I feel jumped on the bandwagon to make sure they were seen to be playing it safe. I had a phone call from a major player in the business who was surprised at how some people in the fashion scene reacted."

Costelloe does not intend to retract anything printed in his name in the Sunday Times. However, he wanted to point out that "although the overall content of the article was accurate, a couple of expressions used were not what I said. For example, I would never have said we are only a couple of generations out of the bog: I think what I said is that we are not an aristocratic race. It's a question of turns of phrase. But I stand by the core and accept that journalists have the right to add their creative talent to what I'd written."

At the heart of Costelloe's argument is the belief that style is not something that can be instantly acquired but only developed over a long period.

"As Coco Chanel said, you can't buy style. Certain countries have it, we've got other qualities." The races most obviously imbued with stylishness, he argues, are the French and the Italians thanks to their long experience in the field.

"People really shouldn't have got all steamed up. Some of what I said - like looking for inspiration to Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man - was slightly tongue in cheek. It was to bring home the point that the women in Image were the exceptions."

While Paul Costelloe was taken aback at the vehemence of the response to his Sunday Times remarks, he also seems to have been more than a little delighted by the stir created.

"I didn't realise I had so high a profile or that my opinions were so relevant. I've always been very lucky and had lots of good press. I've never had a reaction like this in my life. In some ways, it's quite flattering. I've discovered what it is to be a celebrity."

He does not expect his business to suffer any long-term damage. "No, I'm not worried. I'm in this business long enough to absorb the positive and negative and continue. People who buy Paul Costelloe are not in general the tabloid-type readers: they understand and accept sensationalism for what it is. It's like films - if you're a good director, people will still go and see your pictures regardless of controversy. It's up to me to make good clothes - that's what I'm here to do. I really feel that at this stage the thing has run its course and will be over by next week."

Anyone who feels differently may care to call into Brown Thomas this afternoon and have a word with the man himself.