THIS must be unique in the annals of Irish fashion someone who has never produced a commercial collection before is invited by a major chain to produce an entire range for distribution and sale throughout the country. Frankly, that scenario sounds neither credible nor feasible but such are the circumstances in which Cuan Hanly has created a new line of clothing for men it will be on sale in Brown Thomas and A.Wear branches across the country from the middle of next month.
"He's down to earth and he's solid," says A.Wear's Deirdre Kelly by way of explanation for offering Manly this chance. "He has a good head on his shoulders and has global experience in retail, with a strong commercial sense, which is 50 per cent of what's needed."
Maybe so, but the other 50 per cent, presumably, should include at least some practical design experience. Until a few months ago, Cuan Manly hadn't designed any clothes let alone an entire collection since leaving the Grafton Academy of Fashion Design in his native Dublin in 1987.
At that time, he also left the country, moving to London where he secured a job with designer Paul Smith. "I really felt that the one element colleges don't give you is a sense of the business side" he offers by way of explanation for his move. "So I felt I should go off and work for the best in the field of menswear and learn.
"I think it's invaluable for a designer to know about the business aspect. Even if you've the most wonderful designs, if you can't get them made or sold, their you might as well not be in the business.
Manly's work with Paul Smith was almost totally oriented towards the retail end of the company he began on the shop floor of the designer's Floral Street shop and gradually moved through to stock control to become the group's retail co-ordinator. In addition to overseeing the creation of new Paul Smith outlets in Paris, London and Tokyo, Manly helped set up a new division of the company, R. Newbold, which specialises in work wear inspired styles.
By 1994, he was ready to leave. "I'd kind of progressed through the company and I wanted to come back to Ireland." The opportunity arose to work with John Rocha, so he returned home and, after Rocha severed his connection with the Brown Thomas group, Hanly assumed responsibility for sales and marketing in Europe and the Far East. Despite his obvious abilities in this field, "I was trying to get back into design and creating my own label all the time. The job with John was wonderful but it was very much sales oriented and that wasn't the direction I wanted to go in."
So late last year he went out on his own and was immediately approached by Deirdre Kelly who was at the time looking for a menswear designer for A.Wear. This new venture, simply called CH, is obviously a risk for both parties but they appear equally confident.
Cuan's background means that he knows what will work and what won't, from the first concept to when the garments hit the shop floor,"says Kelly. "His brief was to be contemporary but commercial, and as far as I'm concerned, he has achieved both."
HANLY seems just as pleased with the out come. "It's a fantastic opportunity," he says. I don't know of any other company worldwide which would do this. Lots of businesses buy stock from new designers, of course, but they're just customers. Unlike A.Wear, they're not involved in the whole thing."
Hanly believes his understanding of "the value of commerciality" ought to ensure that this first collection will meet with approval from A.Wear's clientele, who are both cost and fashion conscious. Certainly, the clothes manage to be highly wearable and yet have enough style detailing to look distinctive.
There are, for example, sufficient combinations of jackets and trousers to guarantee that even the most conservative dresser wishing to buy a dark wool suit in black, charcoal or navy will be satisfied. But for men who prefer something slightly more radical, there are alternatives a stretch wool and lycra blend for slim fitting, tailored separates or a bold check with either a yellow or taupe base a for bolder presentation.
Otherwise, the options include wool crepe pinstripe, cotton moleskin (covering a range of colours from deep blue to off white) corduroy and velvet.
Black nylon is the fabric for coats, which come from very long to short, blouson style, all with contrasting wool collars. Knitwear comes hand loomed in wool and alpaca, with a similarly generous range of shapes. Here, as with the shirting, Hanly has used bands of toning colour on the main body.
On shirts of ox blood, deep moss green and blue, the shade of these inserted panels varies just slightly from that employed on the rest of the garment. The effect is subtly subversive of tradition but not so much that conservative dressers need feel intimidated. And if even this is too much, plain white cotton shirts are available too.
While Manly has sourced fabric and yarn from a number of countries, all the clothes are made in Ireland, but thanks to the involvement of A.Wear, prices still manage to be affordable. The most expensive coats will cost £140, jackets run from £140 to £180, trousers are £50-80, sweaters around £80 and shirts £45.
"I believe strongly that clothes should look good but still be functional and practical," says the designer who admits that his approach has been strongly influenced by long association with Paul Smith. "Having worked with him for eight years, of course I have the same attitude towards clothing I think I've the same no nonsense approach."
Deirdre Kelly won't argue with that. "I'm delighted," she says of the latest addition to her stable of specially designed collections for A.Wear. "Usually you have to filter through a range but from the initial viewing we agreed on everything, which is very unusual." Obviously both she and Cuan Hanly are now hoping that Irish men will join them in this agreement.