THE O'Reilly Hall in UCD is probably not the most atmospheric place to hold a fashion show but Brown Thomas picked it for its autumn extravaganza because it holds nearly 800 people and there isn't a bad seat in the house. The reason the organisers were keen to keep the numbers up was that it was the first fund raiser for Angels Quest, a new Irish Charity that is the brain child of A Wear supremo Deirdre Kelly.

The charity aims to help parents with disabled children and funds collected will go towards providing much needed respite care.

It was certainly a very stylish evening and looking particularly elegant were Mary Bowe who travelled from Marlfield House in Gorey, Co Wexford, with her sister Anne Barragry, Philomena Purcell, Iso Mullion and Eithne Scott Lennon.

The biggest hits on the catwalk were not the professional models but the children who scored high on the (all together say) aaaagh scale. The well connected cuties included Rachel (4), daughter of Brown Thomas boss Paul Kelly, Gemma (13) daughter of photographer Tom Lawlor and Andrew (5) son of another BT executive Bill Simpson.