WHAT IS claimed to be the largest jeans bar in Ireland was officially reopened yesterday in BT2 Grafton Street by Brown Thomas buying director Shelly Corkery, as part of the store’s reorganisation.
Corkery also said a BT2 Destination Denim app will be launched in September, the first of its kind here.
All signs are that skinny jeans rather than flares, in shades like Bordeaux, will be legging it for winter, echoing the continuing trend for bright denims that began this spring. Soft velvet cords are bound to be popular alternatives. Prices for jeans start at €40 upwards.
The store has also acquired more of a metropolitan polish with the inclusion of brands like Maje, Iro and Surface to Air, well known in France for their sophisticated, Gallic rock ’n’ roll looks and the Kooples (in BT2 Dundrum), another success story from Paris with a more boyish, androgynous appeal.
Typical of the French approach is the mix of slouchy dresses and tops with sharply tailored jackets, a look which mixes well with niche brands such as MSGM from Italy, Markus Lupfer from Britain and Pinko from Italy.
Surprising best-sellers so far, in their first season in the store, have been quilted Barbour jackets given a cool new status through celebrity endorsement.
“We wanted to set a new direction, to bring BT2 up above the high street, to make it a more fashion store,” Corkery says. “It is very much about the brand as opposed to whom exactly it is for – it’s for a wider audience.”
Though it’s back to black for winter and the dress still predominates, red is, she adds, “the niche story of the season”.