Nokia Young Fashion Designer 09

Pictured at the Nokia Young Fashion Designer Award were: 1. Emma Forsyth & Elaine O’Shea; 2. Sian Gray & Alan O’Hara; 3. Angelique Kouvelis & Aoife Byrne.

The winner of the Nokia Young Fashion Designer Award 2009 was announced at a high profile fashion spectacular in the old Habitat building, Dame St, this week. Aoife Gallagher (pictured left) from Donegal, and currently in her fourth year in NCAD, impressed the panel of international guest judges with her winning design, entitled, ‘Hidden Light, Natural Movement Exposure’. Aoife was awarded with the coveted Nokia accolade as well as receiving a Nokia Supernova handset, €5,000, media profiling opportunities for the year and a work placement with retail partner House of Fraser.

This year students from colleges across the country, were invited to submit a mood board and design notebook illustrating one individual outfit inspired by Nokia’s latest Supernova handset. After beating numerous entries, 20 finalists then brought their Supernova inspired creations to life at the glamorous fashion show finale.

Aoife’s design is based on the idea of transformation, thought and natural and unnatural movement. The creation consisted of a structural bulb like dress, which played on the eye by revealing different colours from every angle.

Ensuring its position as the premier student design award in Ireland, this year’s judging panel included some of the leading figures in Irish and international fashion; top fashion blogger Susie Lau, Fashion Wire Daily European editor Godfrey Deeny, Head of Menswear at Hermes Brendan Mullane and established Irish designer, Louise Kennedy. Also assisting the judges was Irish knitwear designer and student mentor Tim Ryan.

Mothers Day lunch for Epilepsy

The National Centre for Epilepsy (NCE) hosted a charity luncheon in Town Bar & Grill to celebrate mothers Day. TV beauty Laura Woods was the emcee for the afternoon and helped raise much needed funds for the NCE.

Pictured were: 1. Stylish mother and daughter duo Laura and Pauline Woods; 2. Fiona McHugh and Dr. Natalia Bratu; 3. Jenny Lee Masterson and Corina Grant.

Dining to Make a Difference

At Residence for the Dining to Make a Difference evening were: 1. Christine Chung, Keith Duffy and Karen McEvoy; 2. Oliver Hughes, Hayley Rock and Dave Morrissey.

A major fund-raising event, Dining to Make a Difference took place recently and saw celebrity guests host dinners in some of Dublin’s top restaurants (with the celebrity donating their time and the restaurant donating the dinner). Patrons purchased the table for €2,000 and dined in style with their chosen celeb and friends.

All funds raised will fund a project, Operation Sunlight that operates in Ghana and serves to remove boys, as young as 12 from unofficial mines and place them in schools and vocational training programmes. Operation Sunlight is a project under the Corporate Goat umbrella, which aims to encourage more businesses in Ireland and the UK to support projects that contribute to the elimination of extreme poverty.

Celebrities who hosted tables at Dining to Make a Difference included Rosanna Davison and Wesley Quirke, Caroline Morahan, Brian Ormonde and Pippa O’Connor, Wendy Austin, Keith Duffy, Stephen Rea and Jack L.

Restaurants included Bang, The Unicorn, Town Bar and Grill, Bentleys and Diep Le Shaker with a pre-dinner reception hosted at Residence private members club on The Green.

Also there were: 1. Niall McCrudden, Caroline Morahan and Christian Stokes; 2. Jack L and Nicci St. George Smith.

Foxrock Fillies

At the party for the new Foxrock Fillies boutique were: 1. Emily O’Donnell & Katie-Jane Goldin; 2. Sara McGovern & Kenny Vaughan; 3. Fiona Caslin & Sandra Byrne. (Pic. Brian McEvoy)

Foxrock Fillies has found itself a new home in the picturesque and stylish village of Blackrock (Carysfort Avenue to be precise). Proprietor Mary Brown opened the doors to her stunning new boutique and hosted a Sex & The City themed party to welcome her guests and mark her arrival in Blackrock. Cupcakes, champagne and cosmopolitans - SATC style was the order of the day / night!

Foxrock Fillies has been offering customers the sale and rental of bespoke hats, fascinators, evening bags and costume jewellery for a number of years. Each item in the shop has been carefully chosen by Mary Brown and sourced from all over the world, including the fashion capital Paris.

Mary’s unique hats have been admired at some of the biggest race meetings including Ascot, Cheltenham, and have even travelled as far as the Dubai Races. This unique boutique is a haven of fine hats with over 300 styles to choose from, including stunning pieces from top milliner Nigel Raymond. There is definitely something for every girl at Foxrock Fillies...

Among the stylish crowd were Sandra Byrne and Emily O’Donnell, stunning sister act Dr. Katherine and Dr. Jane Mulroney, model Sara Kavanagh looking tanned and relaxed after a break with her boyfriend Conor Buckley in the Dominican Republic and gorgeous TV presenter Laura Woods who is busy organising her upcoming nuptials to her handsome beau Mark later this year.

Jameson 360

Jameson Irish whiskey hosted its annual St. Patrick's Day party on Saturday night last, ever considerate of giving us all a restful Sunday morning sleep in (though not for me as I have the lovely Louise Jordan from "The Juice" show to talk to!).



The Jameson 360 party was celebrated all over the world with events taking place simultaneously in cities such as Tokyo, Oslo, Moscow, Sydney and Dubai. each party was beamed directly into the Jameson distillery in Smithfield giving the event a truely international flavour. Republic of Loose and The Conetics were among the entertainment.




1. Heidi O'Sullivan & Catherine Lowry; 2. Dearbhla Hogan; 3. Caitriona O'Connor & Ciara McCahy.


4. Aoife Cogan; 5. Chris O'Keefe & Kate O'Mahony; 6. Danielle Kelly.

Corrie hits Naas

At Il Fico were: 1. Helen O’Dwyer and Andrea Hayes; 2. Gillian Quinn, Valerie and Patricia Roe; 3. Corrie actor Gray O’Brien.

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Coronation Street star Gray O’Brien (Tony Gordon) was in town today to sample the fare at hip new Italian Eatery, Il Fico in Naas. Already a favourite with leading lights in Kildare such as Apprentice Star Bill Cullen and wife Jackie Lavin and football legend Niall Quinn and wife Gillian, Il Fico is becoming quite the celebrity haunt for intimate dinner parties or cosy Sunday lunches.

Friday the 13^th may be unlucky for some but not for Gray O’Brien as he will be joined for dinner at Il Fico by a bevy of beauties and some of Ireland’s top models and fashionistas such as Pamela Flood, models Ruth O’Neil and Rachel Montague, Elaine Roddy, Tara Sinnott and Helen O’Dwyer. The Xposé cameras will be rolling as devilishly handsome Tony Gordon, who could be one of the Street’s most notorious villains ever, is sure to set temperatures soaring at Il Fico and later on in the piano bar at the Naas Court Nightclub.

Il Fico is the brainchild of partners, hotelier Michael Leonard and Sicilian chef, Matteo Patti, who was a former executive chef of several major eateries in Dublin. The eaterie embraces all that is authentic in Italian fare and boasts some exclusive Sicilian dishes using only the finest ingredients. Assistant chef Nuccio Russotto, also from Sicily, brings a wealth of experience with him having worked in two of the top restaurants in Milan, adding to the authenticity of the restaurant.

Pepe SS09

Pictured at the Pepe party were: 1. Chantelle Meegan and Wayne Lawlor; 2. Brendan Scully and Dearbhla Hogan; 3. Tara O'Leary and Rebecca Lawless. Pic.: Brian McEvoy.


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Spring was certainly in the air this week as Pepe hosted a preview of the Spring / Summer range at its Exchequer Street store on Tuesday evening. The vibrant colours lifted the spirits, as did the West Coast Cooler and sushi on offer.

Among the guests were Glenda Gilson, who made her first appearance since a recent fall which had her absent from our TV screens as an Xposé presenter. Also there, welcomed by Jay Shah of Pepe Ireland, were Tara O'Leary of Alfa Romeo, Katie Jane Goldin, stylist Cathy O'Connor and Chantelle Meegan who had jetted in from Monte Carlo.

Watchmen

At the premiere in The Savoy were: Louise Osbourne and Orlaith Hannon; 2. 3 out of the 4 member band Clozure, Andrew Rice, Paul Hughes and Ryan Davis; 3. Louise Kavanagh and Nadia Forde.


The much anticipated anti-super hero movie Watchmen premiered in Ireland recently. The visiually impressive movie is full of high octane scenes and is not for the squeemish! With a great music score, fans of the original book will love it. Starring Patrick Wilson and Billy Crudup, among a host of others, it's directed by Zack Snyder and is out now...

Also at the premiere were: 1. Hubie Davison and sister Rosanna; 2. Caroline Downey with her son Jett; 3. Niall McCrudden and Cathy O'Connor.

John Frieda

At the John Frieda do were: 1. Vicki Franks and John Frieda; 2. Andrea and Darren Kennedy with Sandra Byrne; 3. Stephen Milton and Alison McGilligan.

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What with this recession ... what recession? I had lunch on Monday in One Pico and there wasn’t a vacant table in the place. Ditto with Bentley’s, where the food is hit and miss and the service brusque. OK, so the latter was full of fat cats on big expense accounts (not me, more’s the pity) and I guess they will be the last to suffer but the meek shall inherit the earth, fingers crossed.

Anyhoo, the good, the bad and the poor alike gathered at the Royal Hibernian Academy this week to mark the 21st Anniversary of the John Frieda brands. To mark the occasion John flew in especially to attend the exclusive celebratory event, which also marked his first visit to Ireland, where his products have become truly iconic over the past number of years.

RTE’s Sandra Byrne, stylist Noel Sutton and DJ Mo Kelly all enjoyed the Veuve Clicquot champagne and Carpe Diem Botanic Waters. Off The Rails presenter Brendan Courtney chatted about the advice offered by John and his Irish born and London Salon stylists Jake Davis and Paul Connelly. Also spotted enjoying the event were Dirty Epics lead singer SJ Wai, Louise Osbourne, Apprentice Runner-Up Nicky O’Callaghan and hypnotist Katie Jane Golden.

The highlight of the evening came when the passionate John invited attendees to come and speak to him personally regarding his hair advice – such a quick formation of a queue has rarely been seen. Speaking to the guests, the always-pushing forward John Frieda spoke about his transition from hair stylist to the stars to the hair brand the stars use and how he always took his father's advice, "the harder you work, the luckier you get".

Personally I think the luckier you get the less you work, but I digress. Thanks for lifting our spirits John Frieda, here’s to another 21.

Nokia Young Fashion Designer 09

Angelica from Brazil models a dress made from a single piece of wool by Irish Knitwear designer Tim Ryan as Nokia launch the Nokia Young Fashion Designer Award 2009.

The dress was re-constructed in a video filmed by up-and-coming London based Irish-artist Laura Gannon, to give peoplea taste of how much work goes into making a single garment and in turn, how much work this year’s 20 NYFDA finalists have put into making their designs.

See the fascinating video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XeIbYI5I0I

The Nokia Young Fashion Designer Award 2009 live finale will take place on March 25th in Dublin, where an international judging panel including top fashion blogger Susie Lau from www.stylebubble.typepad.com, Senior Menswear designer at Hermés, Brendan Mullane, Irish designer Louise Kennedy and Godfrey Deeny of www.fashionwiredaily.com, will choose one winner from 20 finalists, after they show their creations live on the catwalk.

Samsung Pixon

At the Samsung event were: 1. Brian Ormond and Pippa O'Connor; 2. Norman Pratt and Triona McCarthy; 3. Laura Toogood and Rosanna Davison.

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The treacherous weather conditions didn’t prevent Dublin’s top party people descending upon the Royal Hibernian Academy recently for the launch of the Samsung Pixon 8 megapixel camera phone.

Stylish guests included Rosanna Davison, just back from her trip to Germany. Rosanna has clearly been taking style tips from new best friend Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger as she dazzled guests in a sequinned jacket and jeans combo. Rosanna hinted that she is looking forward to hitting the Dublin party scene with Nicole in the coming weeks.

TV presenter Brian Ormond was spotted looking at his watch as he waited for his other half Pippa O’Connor to arrive. Pippa made a brave dash across town from the RTE studio’s where she was appearing on RTE 2’s The Café. Later in the evening Brian was spotted proudly taking pictures of Pippa and friends on his new Samsung Pixon mobile. The Pixon offers the image quality of a high spec digital camera on your phone, allowing users to capture those ‘unexpected moments’ while on the go.

Daniela Crawley and Leone Amon from the St. Patricks Day Festival took time out from their busy schedules to attend. Other guests included RTE TV presenter Darren Kennedy, former Miss Ireland Sarah Morrissey and up and coming model Nadia Forde.

On arrival guests truly experienced the unexpected as they were greeted by a number of contortionists’ including a pink mouse and blue cat. The evening culminated with guests sipping champagne as the contortionists’ wowed guests with their bizarre moves.

The Best a Man Can Get

At the launch party for the new Gilette range of skin care products were: 1. Laura Toogood and Brian Purcell; 2. Brian O'Driscoll with models Lynn Kelly and Juile Devine; 3. TV presenter Glenda Gilson.

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Gillette ambassador Brian O’Driscoll hosted an exclusive launch party for Gillette’s new shave care range, which is set to revolutionise how Irish men view their grooming regime. The event, held in Dublin’s Sycamore Club in Temple Bar, attracted a host of Gillette fans and Ireland’s social scene.

Fresh from his heroics against Italy, O’Driscoll jetted straight in from Rome to be part of the event. He commented “Gillette’s refreshing new look and product range offers a complete top class shaving experience for men from start to finish. The full range has revitalised my locker”.

Brian Purcell from The Apprentice, Norman Pratt and Angie Grant, Deric Hartigan of TV3, Aengus Og MacAnally, Astrid Brennan and Triona McCarthy were among the guests.

The new Gillette Series shavecare range includes: pre-shave scrub and wash which prepare the skin before the shave, shave gels which shield the skin during the shave, and after-the-shave moisturiser, balm and gel which refuel the skin after the shave.

Hennessy Gold Cup

At the Hennessy Gold cup were: 1. Karen Koster; 2. Fiona Grant, winner of Best Dressed Lady; 3. Colette Fitzpatrick.

The Hennessy Gold Cup returned to Leopardstown Racecourse on Sunday, and in the inimitable style of Hennessy, saw a unique blend of personalities from all walks of life come together for this premier sporting and social event.

The elite crowd in attendance included Karen Koster, Colette Fitzpatrick and fiancé Neil McDermott; models, former Miss World, Rosanna Davison, former Miss Ireland Aoife Coogan and Jenny Lee Masterson; acclaimed film director Jim Sheridan and the Hon. Desmond and Penny Guinness.

Those in attendance were entertained by the sultry tones of Maria Tecce and for race aficionados and novices alike, top tips were offered throughout the day by MC Des Cahill.

The fashion stakes were high as ladies donned their most glamorous outfits in the hope of winning the Best Dressed Lady Competition in association with The Design Centre. Judges Sonya Lennon, Off the Rails presenter and stylist, Aisling Kilduff of The Design Centre and Caroline Sleiman, of Moet Hennessy saw stunning ensembles and beautiful accessories on show.

Winner Fiona Grant from was presented with a €5000 Design Centre voucher to enhance her wardrobe from a superb selection of magnificent designer styles, while in 2nd place Fiona Barry received a €1000 voucher. Third place was received by Raychel O’Connell and all three winners walked away with a bottle of the exclusive Hennessy X.O.

This year saw the 19^th running of the Hennessy Gold Cupand as always the feature race was greeted with anticipation and excitement and the crowd were not disappointed as Ruby Walsh brought Neptune Collonges to a stunning win and then share his experience with race-goers in the Hennessy Suite at the Leopardstown Pavilion.

Love is in the air at Lillies

At the Valentine's night party in Lillies were: 1. Barry Byrne & Suzie McAdam; 2. Leslie walsh & Lorna Kennedy; 3. Karen Smith, Geroge McMahon & Kim McMahon.


The atmosphere was electric on Saturday night as the club hosted its special Valentine’s party with a Moulin Rouge theme. Guests were treated to a cocktail reception, usherettes and dancers from the Tassel Club all wearing Burlesque outfits, led by glam hostess Haley Rock. A number of well known faces seen to be enjoying themselves at the club included U2’s The Edge, actor Patrick Bergin, Abi Titmuss, Gavin Friday and actor George McMahon.

Aviva Stadium

The worst kept secret about the new Lansdowne Road was revealed today with the announcement that the new sports ground is to be called Aviva Stadium, after insurance giant Aviva agreed a 10-year sponsorship deal. Due to open in April 2010, I was given a sneak preview of the place this week and was amazed at progress so far.

The 50,000 seater stadium will feature world class facilities and be home to both Irish rugby and football, with the IRFU and FAI in partnership. As well as sporting events it is envisaged that there will be a number of music concerts staged every year.

Designed by HOK Sport Architecture (which was also responsible for Emirates and Wembley stadia, among others) the new grounds will be state of the art with optimised viewing of the pitch while retaining the old atmosphere of Lansdowne Road. I was particularly impressed by the eco credentials of the development, for example the vast opaque roof makes the most of natural sunlight and also collects rain water which will then be stored to irrigate the pitch.

While many of the seats and corporate boxes have been sold in advance to finance the development the FAI still have a number of options available through its Vantage Club, go to www.faivantageclub.com for more information.

dylan

At the party in dylan were: 1. Sonya Lennon and Gregory Curran; 2. Darren Kennedy and Rachel Wyse; 3. Hilary Rose and Ciara Whelan.

Also at the party in dylan were: 1. Lisa Murphy and Gerald Kean; 2. Joanne Hynes; 3. Sarah McGovern and Jenny Lee Masterson.

dylan, Dublin’s leading boutique hotel, launched its newly re-styled eatery last week, which has been transformed into a vibrant, yet relaxing space. The event, which was the most well attended I’ve seen in quite a while, attracted the crème de la crème of Dublin’s social elite including Gerald Kean and his partner, the stunning Lisa Murphy, fashionista and host of RTÉ’s Off the Rails, Sonya Lennon and Dublin footballer, Alan Brogan. The champagne was flowing as guests partied the night away to the sounds of DJ Mo Kelly and enjoyed delightful canapés and oysters prepared by Executive Chef Padraic Hayden and his team.

Other guests in attendance included actress Holly White, presenters of The Holiday Show, Ciara Whelan and Jon Slattery, Glenda Gilson and Rachel Wyse. TV producers Sharyn Mitchell and Mark Wooderson, Maire Lee Geary, artist Chara Nagle and a catwalk of models were also among the guests.

To add spice and excitement to the event, leading jewellery brand, Theo Fennell, donated a handmade Ampoule necklace crafted from 18 ct yellow and white gold and decorated with round brilliant cut diamonds, which was won by one lucky male guest, much to the disappointment of all the well-heeled ladies in the room.

The re-design of the restaurant at dylan boasts sensual, tactile fabrics in lush on-trend colours such as elderberry, amethyst and metallic mercur and the furniture completes the look perfectly. Rich sobrano wood on the table tops and subdued 1950’s inspired lighting creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere. During the day the dining room is flooded with daylight, while at night, the mood changes to a more intimate candle lit setting.

I must admit I am a little reluctant to recommend dylan as it’s of my personal favourite local hostelries and I don’t want it packed out - but I am a selfless human being ... it’s off Upper Baggot Street if you fancy popping by.