Thursday, June 15, 2006

Ciao!

"What do you think of my hair?" I shyly asked celebrity hairstylist Nicky Clarke.

"Yeah, it's in pretty good nick. You can tell you've never coloured it" he replied.


I'm taking that as a compliment. Actually you can take everything Nicky says as a compliment. He's a nice guy. I met him at an intimate lunch in the Presidential suite of the Conrad Hotel this morning, where he was giving a select few a preview of his new product range, "Red Carpet Style".


Despite being up since 5am for an appearance on Ireland AM, and having had just a couple of hours sleep before that, Nicky looked great. And for a man in his late forties, he looks a helluva lot younger too. Use the products, I guess, and look as good. Or visit one of his salons, of which he said he'd like to open one in Dublin.


I met Melanie Morris, editor of Image magazine, at the luncheon. She's looking forward to a weekend in The Merchant, Belfast's newest 5-star hotel. I've heard amazing things about The Merchant and I'm looking forward to what Melanie has to say about it. On my way out I (literally!) bumped into Triona "Party" McCarthy, who has been absent from the social scene of late. In the past few weeks she's been to Venice, Barcelona, Hamburg, Paris and London. And she's off to Italy soon. Very jet set.


Italians know how to do everything right. Food, cars, fashion. They ooze style and sophistication. And they’re a pretty nation too. A generalisation maybe, but judging by the amount of talent at the Italian Factory event in SIN on Wednesday night, it’s an accurate statement.


Running every Wednesday night, the Italian Factory event is a thumping club night run by a team of good looking Italian boys who know how to party. This week’s event was extra special as purveyor of style Maria Fusco showcased the latest designs from her hip Clarendon Street boutique Ave Maria.


Not your typical runway show, Maria enlisted the help of some of her top customers to model the clothes and dance on stage to bass-tastic music. Kinda reminded me of a Saturday night in Spirit!


Some of the Italian loving people there included models Brian Fallon and Matthew John, designer Virginia Macari and her beau Michael, artist Darryn Lee, Melissa Nelson and Gavin Lambe – Murphy, who is busy with his latest venture, a wine bar on Baggot Street.

Cin cin!