CHANGES ARE afoot at A|wear where buying director Sarah O’Shea, formerly with Arcadia and Tesco, has taken over as buying director after the Irish chain was sold last October to Hilco, a UK company specialising in retail restructuring.
Yesterday, O’Shea launched the new look A|wear collections for spring/summer saying she had taken “the age thing” out of it.
“Fashion is for everybody and we are trying to improve fit, to offer more flattering and feminine shapes. Ireland can’t be segmented like the UK market, it is much more European,” she said.
Most noticeable were the longer and high/low lengths (high at the front and low at the back) and rather rakish “stepped” hemlines. Prints were pretty, others bold and colourful.
The collections focused on four themes, some bringing a fresh spin on old reliables such as nautical stripes and animal motifs, while “Soft Focus” concentrated on pale, washed-out neutrals with a languid Twenties look.
In that category, delicate polka dot dresses with concertina pleats and soft knits were appealing, while pale, iridescent sequined tops for €70 offered instant easy- to-wear glamour.
Apart from some plain and colour-blocked dresses, the emphasis tended to be more on casual and going-out wear rather than workwear, “but we
are concentrating on that, on simple dress shapes and soft
suits for autumn/winter”, said O’Shea.
Price points have remained roughly the same with jersey tops for €12, jeans from €26, dresses from €35, with the most expensive item an elaborately beaded kaftan-style jacket for €90.