Paris fashion week

“I am so excited. It is a real big deal for Ireland. I worked hard to get to this level and I hope it inspires another generation”, said the delighted young Irish designer JW Anderson (29), in Paris yesterday after the announcement that the global luxury brand LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) is to invest in the company which he started five years ago.

It was also revealed that he is to become creative director of the renowned Spanish leather goods house Loewe (pronounced low evay) also owned by LVMH. “There is a lot of talent in Ireland that needs support and it doesn’t matter where you get it as long as you are proud of where you come from – that is where you learn your taste level,” said Anderson.

Transparency
Another Northern Irish designer, the Paris-based Sharon Wauchob drew on her native roots for her collection yesterday in the Marais Mairie (town hall) with a collection of lightweight tweeds and delicate laces styled in her deceptively throwaway, rock chic style. "I took very old details and cut into each of them," she said backstage. "I always play with transparency, but I also wanted to have a little bit of fun with it".

This was a sparkling collection using pearls and crystal for the first time as décor on tunics, skirts and even black satin platforms. Soft herringbone tweed coats were lightly tufted with fox fur and pearls and a pinafore dress in black lingerie lace glittered with crystal. She let many lustrous fabrics speak for themselves like a coat of gunmetal grey velvet or another in stiff bronze satin.

One of the most beautiful pieces was a short white, artfully cut tunic beaded with pearls and worn simply with narrow black trousers and kitten heels.

Elsewhere yesterday, wasp-striped palazzos and devore tattoos gave Ann Demeulemeester’s sexy collection extra street zing and flamboyance.

Blending graphic black and white with the odd shot of red or salmon pink, her swagged dresses and tailored coats used cut velvet in new ways, particularly tattooed on flesh stockings. One sharply tailored red coat was earmarked by Nikki Creedon of Havana as a Dublin bestseller.