TAKE heart, all you fashion enthusiasts who've been frustrated in your efforts to acquire a ticket for next Saturday's sell out extravaganza in the Point," theatre. Just a few days later, there's to be another show in Dublin which will have a cachet of exclusivity impossible to achieve on the capital's quays.
Only 350 people will be admitted, to a first viewing of the Design Centre's spring/summer collections on Thursday, February 8th the event is being staged in aid of the Irish Hospice Foundation in the unusual surroundings of St Patrick's Hall in Dublin Castle. Not since the dinner held there in honour of US president Bill Clinton will such an opportunity for dressing up have occurred.
Overseeing arrangements for the, night is the Design Centre's manager, Winnie Cunningham. She'll be working closely with Michelle Kavanagh, back in action at the Powerscourt Townhouse after the birth of her second baby, Richard Power (a little brother for Rachel), who arrived in December. Given the limited number of tickets for the night, the expectation is that all places will be snapped up just as fast as those for the Point's show. Among the first women to secure their seats were Lucy Gaffney and Catherine Walshe from the Ideas Company.
There should be plenty to see in the latest collection, given that members of the Design Centre made virtually a clean sweep of the prizes at last November's Late, Late Show Fashion Awards not least Miriam Mone who scooped the title of Designer of the Year. Looking after the show is rising star Enda McGrallan, who did such an impressive job with the Smirnoff Young Designer Awards in Trinity Coll