A NO-NONSENSE fashion show styled and edited by Jan Brierton in the Conran Shop in Arnotts last night drew from the store’s 80 brands to showcase current autumn/winter trends.
Divided into seven self-explanatory sections titled “Camel and Red”, “Coats”, “Heritage” or “Knits”, the show demonstrated Arnotts is a one-stop store for clothing. If it’s a winter coat you want, there are a whole host of options from a cute plaid trench from NW3 (a new range by Hobbs), a zany red plaid swing number from Vivienne Westwood or a plush military style from Jaeger at prices from €200 up to €730 and beyond.
“It’s a really womanly season and everything is wearable,” said buying director Deirdre Devaney, adding that the focus of the show was on the core customer in the target age group of 25-50.
A lot of editing of brands both in womenswear and menswear has been carried out, with new ones added and more space created to improve the appearance of the fashion floor, she said. “We are 29 per cent up on last year, our footfall has been maintained – we get on average between 30,000-40,000 people in the store every Saturday.”
Ms Devaney also revealed that Peter O’Brien’s new collection for the store will be launched in early October.
The show’s other categories covered a selection of new winter knits from chunky grey cables and metallic knit dresses to cocoon cardigans and fun prints from Orla Kiely’s spots to NW3’s dog motifs.
There were so many shift dresses – leopard print, red wool, grey wool, midnight blue – that customers would benefit from the store showing the selection in one place relieving the chore of having to search through the various brands.
“Hitchcock Glamour” featuring black lace, velvet and sequin dresses worn with gloves and stilettos closed the show with a floor-length, sequined gown by Scala, a glamorous finale.
