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.