Style HQ in suburbia, that Harvey Nichols, threw a mega bash last week in their hip restaurant to celebrate the latest issue of Image magazine, which profiles brilliant boys and all their glories. Entitled “The Boys are Back in Town”, the piece pays tribute to those guys who are blazing a trail in whatever they do.
Melanie Morris and Dee Breen hosted the magnificent party with Moet & Chandon, open decks and the coolest of cats in attendance. Some of those featured include actor David Coffey of Dan and Becs fame, lead singer of The Blizzards Niall Breslin, James Hyland and Lee Walsh of Bubble Hits, TV presenters Aidan Power and Ryan Tubridy, Conor Buckly of Krystle nightclub, restauranteur Paul Cadden, Trevor White of The Dubliner, singer Paul Byrom, photographer Richie Stokes and rugby star Gordon D’Arcy to name but a few.
The place was hopping and some of the guest included Gail Ferguson and her actor boyfriend Mark Macauley, Nicolas Nannetti who was in town on business, Andrew Rudd, designer Virginia Macari, Astrid Brennan and James Flanagan, Samantha McGarry and Sarah Ryan and Aisling Kilduff of the Design Centre.
With the open decks music policy going down a storm (think Bon Jovi after 2 Unlimited followed by Dolly Parton and you get the idea) the bash went on till the small hours, with many repairing to Krystle to keep the night going.
The Nokia Young Designer of the Year awards and show was hosted recently, with a record number of attendees present. A champagne reception kicked off proceedings in City Hall, with guests making up a rather stylish parade across to the Olympia theatre, where the actual show and presentations took place.
Among the guests were Director of Dublin Fashion Week Sonia Reynolds, TV presenter Pam Flood, Declan Leavy, newscaster Anne Doyle, Emily O’Donnell and Avila Lipsett (whose beautiful sister Sarah recently got engaged to Clive Roche), Roisin Tierney – Crowe and Norman Pratt and TV3’s Karen Koster, who is gearing up for her new presenting role on the much anticipated new show Xpose.
In a tense finale hosted by Lucy Kennedy, the international judging panel including Caren Downie, Buying Director for Topshop, Paula Reed, Style Editor for Grazia Magazine and designers Pauric Sweeney, Leigh Tucker and Jonathan Saunders finally gave the results after a nail biting deliberation.The runner’s up were Carol Hopkins and Jane Horgan who both won €1,000 and crowned the overall winner was Deirdre Brennan from Limerick School of Art and Design who won €5,000 plus a work placement with Topshop.
This years Electric Picnic line-up was announced at, what can only be described as a mini Electric Picnic. The outdoor terrace at CrawDaddy was taken over with décor, visuals and even food stands to recreate the venerable music festival.
Some of those I spotted included Larissa Nolan and Enda Leahy who are back after a sojourn in Geneva, DJ Mo Kelly, Deirdre Crooks, Stevo Berube, Siobhan O’Dowd and Dave Brittain.
Some of the acts set to play the gig at Stradbally on August bank holiday weekend are Primal Scream, The Good, The Bad & The Queen, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Jarvis Cocker, Bjork, The Beastie Boys and Iggy Pop (who I hope will do a better job than he did at Slane a few years ago). If you don’t have tickets yet then I fear it may be sold out – but try, try, try again – it’s worth it.
