DESIGNER RICHARD Lewis is to receive a lifetime achievement award from Motorola Dublin Fashion Week as part of the event's newly inaugurated fashion awards announced yesterday.
The designer, who began his career in l965, is known for his signature use of fluid matt jersey and wool crepe and has often been dubbed the "king of cling" and compared to Jean Muir.
"It is quite a compliment," he said. "I am really chuffed to be the first to receive it. I have always believed in doing one thing and doing it well and making women look good."
From Drimnagh, the son of a carpenter whose wife made school uniforms, Richard Patrick Lewis initially wanted to be an artist, but later trained in fashion design. Dresses from his first collection were used as window displays in Switzers department store in Grafton Street which later became Brown Thomas, but sold out to the surprise of the store's buyers.
Still in his twenties, he opened his first boutique in l969 and quickly established his reputation.
Since l977 his salon has been based in South Frederick Street, Dublin, where he produces his twice-yearly collections.
The award will be presented to him during the forthcoming Dublin Fashion Week which runs from August 25th-27th.
A special fashion show will include retrospective pieces from his collections, many lent by long-standing private clients such as former model Sharon Bacon, Monica Murray, Mary Finan and Tona O'Brien.
It will also feature the very first dress he made in white silk crepe at the Grafton Academy where he studied fashion design.
Nominees for the other six categories were also announced yesterday. They include John Rocha, Eilis Boyle and Helen Cody for designer of the year, Sharon Wauchob, Pauric Sweeney and John Rocha for international achievement award and Edmund Chesneau, Helen James and Orla Kiely as accessories designer of the year.
The award presentation will take place in the Serpentine Hall, RDS, Ballsbridge, in Dublin on August 27th followed by a designer collective show, which will be open to the public.