A Georgian house on St Stephen's Green lit with chandeliers and candles was the venue last night for a festive winter fashion show from the Design Centre, a few doors from its original Dublin location 20 years ago.
"This show is all about glamour and romance," said owner Ashling Kilduff. "People are spending more on evening wear and looking for one-off pieces because they don't want five others wearing the same thing."
Partywear dresses from both Irish and international designers were certainly decorative affairs, with lots of lace, ruffles, beading and sequins. Accessories included rabbit fur stoles and diamante stilettos. Prices started at around €400 for a black tulle skirt, but a fishtail gold lamé sheath by Julien Macdonald with a price tag of €4,000 seemed designed to floor any seasonal gathering. It's a Naomi Campbell favourite. The New York-born, but UK-based, designer Ben de Lisi, known for elegant and feminine red carpet dresses was in attendance, presenting his winter collection and items from spring-summer 2006.
"I love meeting customers," he told The Irish Times, "because they act as a barometer as to what women want. I never design clothes for the fun of it. There is no woman that I have met who doesn't want to look taller and thinner and who is completely happy with her body."
A key piece from his current collection was a tomato red plunge halter in Italian silk georgette with a jewelled buckle. "I drew the design in the middle of the night," he said.
A regular visitor to this country, he finds it "an invigorating kind of place. The style here is much more individual and there is a kind of 'I don't care' approach to fashion which is not about trends.
"Irish women wear what suits them and dress for themselves. There is also the look of John Rocha which is more earthy. I am very happy that my collection has caught on here."
The designer who started his career as a sculptor, is 50 this year and branching out in many other directions.