Clothes lines

INEDIBLE UNSPEAKABLES: Can men's underwear do enough to save the world? That was the question posed recently at the news that later this year a collection of briefs and T-shirts made from soybean fabric will be launched in the US by a company called 2(x)ist.

Director Jason Scarlatti told the New York Times that the whole world is going soy, with soy milk and soy lattes and that "we wanted to be on the pulse of what's going on". Their briefs and boxers may well pulsate with good intentions, but the makers of the fabric make great claims for its efficacy. It is said to absorb nearly 100 per cent of ultraviolet rays, to be resistant to E. coli bacteria and to be packed with amino acids. It comes in shades of grey, blue and black. The company is keen to point out, however, that the underwear is not edible.

TEENAGE TRICKS

"It's all about getting them to look in a mirror and see themselves," says former model Geraldine Brand of her summer grooming courses for teenage girls. These annual week-long workshops have become so successful that two of this year's students are travelling to Dublin from Rome to take part. As the max number any week is never more than 12, each participant gets individual attention and a/wear lends clothes for lessons on how to build up a wardrobe. "You teach them how to build on the basics, to see the bigger picture, what colours suit them and I tell them to look at each other's eyes. They love it all," she adds. Her three-pronged mission this season is to get rid of orange, too much fake tan and square nails. "You notice these things, and who wants to be remembered for them?" she asks. The week-long courses cost €300 and are held in Westland Row, Dublin 2. The first starts on June 12th; the last is in late July. Further information: 01-8327332.

KOREA GUIDANCE

The vintage, romantic and elaborately laced dresses of Lim Hyun Hee, a Korean designer, are Rococo's latest find. The collections of dresses, shrugs, skirts and tops are mostly hand knitted in different textures and are painstakingly constructed, each one unique in its design. The designer, who set up her business in Seoul in 1996, has shown her clothes in China and Japan, and at Rococo, her first Irish outlet, they already have a following among brides-to-be, racegoers and those looking for something very feminine and different. Others may find these layered, busy creations in purple, pale green and powder pink a little de trop; they will certainly not appeal to minimalists. Rococo has stores in Westbury Mall, Dublin 2, Glasthule, Co Dublin, and Cross Street, Galway.