Clothes lines

Compiled by DEIRDRE McQUILLAN

Spookily sweet

We received a most intriguing portfolio from a mysterious Dublin-based designer and illustrator going by the nom de plume Kitty Moss. A box scattered with petals opened to reveal an illustrated armoire containing a series of illustrations from An Autumn Winter Ghost Story, centring on a fashionable ghost called Maud and her escapades. It’s the work of Lyn Allen, whose website maudandminet.com has ghost story merchandise such as paintings, cards, prints and totes, along with garments inspired by her ethereal muse in wool, leather and silk. “My label is spookily sweet, darkly romantic and playfully poised,” she writes. She is certainly a talented designer, with two honours degrees from NCAD, one in Fine Art, the other in fashion. She came second in a Nokia Young Designer of the Year competition, and worked for John Rocha for a year. She has now gone solo and is definitely a talent to watch. She has another website, kittymoss.com, and you can contact her at her studio in Unit 1, Newmarket Square, Dublin 8, tel: 087-9635463.

One decade down

This week Karen Crawford and Susan O’Connell, founders of Smock, celebrated the boutique’s 10th birthday. The pair first opened a shop in Temple Bar in 2001 and it quickly made a name for its avant garde selection of international designers, some then little known in Ireland. In 2008 they moved to their current premises in Drury Street, Dublin 2, and have continued to maintain their reputation for innovative choices. Current picks include zany dresses from Taka Naka, sharp streetwear from APC, dark separates from A F Vandevorst, with shoes from Dries van Noten. In the current issue of the new Irish fashion magazine Thread, they describe hunting for new stock in Paris from Japanese, Icelandic and German designers.

In the hood

Hoodies have moved from humble streetwear into luxury categories, and this one from knitter Edmund McNulty is an Irish example of the posher varieties. It’s a chunky knit with a fold over front, handloomed in a merino and alpaca blend, and costs €245. It can be found in Gentlemen Please in Blackrock and at the Christmas Craft Fair at the RDS which ends tomorrow. The hoodie has been one of McNulty’s best sellers and this one is is an easy to wear knit that looks good with a white T-shirt and dark denims, for casual weekend wear. McNulty has a strong following in Japan and is one of 40 designers from all over Europe who have been selected to exhibit in Tokyo next March at a show called Wear Europe. See edmundmcnulty.com.