Our fashion tip for the week: it's pink for the girls and taupe for the men this winter. That's according to John Rocha himself, who launched his Autumn-Winter 1999 collection in Dublin during the week. Helping out behind the scenes were his three children: Max (10), Zoe (16) and Simone, (13) who celebrates her thirteenth birthday today. Simone and Zoe were both wearing cerise and black. Expecting lots of his friends to turn up, Rocha described the show as "more of a social gathering really . . . It's a bit of fun, that's the main thing." There were plenty of pre-show nerves but the designer exuded zen-Zen-like calm, delighted to be showing again in Dublin, the first Rocha show in six years in the city. His wife, Odette Rocha, working on the final details, was excited about being in Dublin too. "He's relaxed, he's the only one who'se who's relaxed, I'm always nervous before a show."
Upstairs in The Morrison Hotel on Dublin's Ormond Quay as the guests began to arrive, fashion tips were exchanged. Not one man was wearing taupe though. Harry Crosbie, the man behind The Point, and his wife Rita Crosbie were there chatting to Susan Heffernan, of Frontier Films. Louis Walsh, manager of Boyzone, was there wearing a John Rocha jacket and shirt, and a pair of Armani trousers. "I bought those in a sale," he confided. Martin Howard, a Corkman who works for Levis and Dockers, says that fash- ion for men is "about function proceeding pre- ceding form". So now, put that in your pipe and smoke it. Jim Corr was the first pop-star to arrive, but he was whisked away by a frosty handler before OTT could bond properly and chat. Maybe next time. His sisters who came along later - Sharon, Caroline and Andrea - lent an extra frisson of excitement to the night. Liz O'Donnell TD, Minister of State at the De- partment of Foreign Affairs, came in with her daughter Laura Carson (14) and a teenage friend from Germany, Catrin Hoppner, to see the show. Other guests spotted were singer/ song-writer singer/songwriter Paul Brady, designer Michael Mortell and fund-raiser Norma Smurfit.