Clothes lines

Compiled by DEIRDRE McQUILLAN

Wear your art on your sleeve

The Art to Wear collection by Didier Antiques made an impressive showing at PAD, a fair for 20th-century art and design held in Berkeley Square, London. Among the offerings from Didier, a gallery devoted to jewellery by post-War painters and sculptors, was a pair of gold earrings (right) by Breon O'Casey, the only Irish presence in a stellar gathering that included pieces by Calder, Nevelson Braque and Sottsass. didierltd.com

A la mode

At one of the most stunning and unmissable exhibitions currently in Paris, Impressionism and Fashion at the Musée d’Orsay, the great Impressionist paintings are brought to life with displays of clothes and accessories from the period. The exhibition has been organised under the inspired hand of famed US opera director Robert Carsen. One room is lined with huge mirrors and gilt chairs, like a couture salon, the names of society figures of the time handwritten on each mirror. The notorious Rolla, painted in 1878 by Henri Gervex, brings viewers to a standstill. Banned at the time, it features a naked young woman spreadeagled on a bed while her lover looks on. Beneath it, in a glass display case, lie typical undergarments of the period.

L’Impressionnisme et La Mode is at the Musée d’Orsay until January 20th

Cool cats

Organisers of the recent Kilkenny Fashion Week were jubilant after a turnout of more than 500 for the show, styled by Catherine Condell, at Lyrath House, with Kilkenny native Karen Fitzpatrick (above) leading the models. Already plans are afoot to repeat the event next year. Two secondary-school students, Grace O’Mahony and Dylan Kerr, won scholarships during the week to study fashion design at the Grafton Academy next summer for their imaginative recycled outfits, which used bicycle tubing, bed sheets and old chains.

London calling

Danielle Romeril, a talented young Irish designer who works from a studio on Wexford Street and exhibited at London Fashion Week for the first time, has been encouraged by the British Fashion Council to apply for New Generation funding. A graduate of Limerick School of Art Design with a master's from the Royal College of Art in London, Romeril honed her skills working for Alberta Ferretti, in Italy. Her debut collection of beautiful silk prints and lace-cut leathers has marked her out as one to watch. To accept the offer, Romeril must move to London: another Irish talent having to emigrate to find opportunities not available at home. Rolla at the Musee d'Orsay.