Rockin' Rieu

CLOTHES LINES:With reported sales up 35 per cent on last year, defying the recession, Sophie Rieu's Unicorn label which goes on show at the forthcoming Showcase Ireland exhibition at the RDS (January 18th-21st), continues to thrive.

For her winter 2009 collection Rieu, who uses only organic fabrics, has sourced refined wool/angora/cashmere blends from an English mill that has been supplying Savile Row tailors for decades, and a herringbone lambswool flannel from a Scottish mill. From her native France she has bought printed silk satins from Lyon, and from Ireland, Donegal tweed. It all adds up to a very European collection, called Midnight Dreams, in which stronger shapes predominate such as this black dress. www.unicorndesign.net