JUST BACK from Saudi Arabia, where she has been working with Bedouin women on a weaving project, designer Helen McAlinden staged a small fashion show in her new shop on South William Street in Dublin yesterday.
The autumn/winter collection was typical of her quiet, elegant and consistent style, an urban working wardrobe comprising a number of handsome coats in wool/cashmere from €375, wrap snakeskin-print dresses for €165 with wide-leg, crop or high-waisted pants for €195.
The colour palette was a mix of black, navy, white, grey and red with some Prince of Wales check and tartan mohair.
Apart from knit dresses, McAlinden kept to her signature classics like black sheaths with scoop necks and side pockets or more form-fitting zipped front jerseys. One dress in peacock- blue shot silk with a €165 price tag sold at a charity auction in Riyadh for €5,000. Shoes at the show were from LK Bennett, gloves from Paula Rowan and furs from Barnardos.