Clothes lines

DEIRDRE MCQUILLANtalks us through clothes

Hold tight

A new Irish fashion website, misschichi.com, is all about innovative hosiery and funky ways of decorating the legs. This online boutique has been founded by a Cork-based Polish restaurateur Jola Wojtowicz. She has become the sole UK and Irish stockist of the brand HYD, which is designed in Spain by an Italian designer and produced in Italy using the latest fibres and technology. The range includes leggings, stockings, socks, footless tights and legwarmers as well as bridal wear. All are made with natural fibres and dyes that are environmentally friendly and soft on the skin. Current offerings include cable knit and two-tone tights, leopard print leggings and metallic polka dot black opaques at prices from €8.95 for socks, up to €99 for the latest anti-cellulite tights complete with built-in lace underwear.

Sustainable shoes

Nina Divito aside, Irish shoe designers are thin on the ground. However, a new name to watch for 2011 is Carmel Walsh, a young Irish shoemaker who has been living and working in Florence for the past three years. Walsh, who is from Kinsale, followed a degree in contemporary textiles in Wales with a diploma in shoe and accessory design from Polimoda in Florence, a top Italian fashion design and marketing school. She now works part-time with Saskia Wittmer, a German shoemaker based in Florence, whose exquisite made-to-measure footwear in her small shop/studio on the Via Santa Lucia has earned her an international reputation and clientele. Walsh, who has worked with Calvin Klein and Camper, is also a stylist and part-time model for Luisa Via Roma, one of the smartest shops in the city. Her own experimental creations, made with organic local materials such as wood, linen and wool, are playful explorations of sustainable footwear. Some are even planted with seeds. The idea for them came when she discovered that 330 million shoes are thrown into landfill every year.

Dinky jewels

1920s fashion and the women who epitomised it such as Zelda Fitzgerald, Clara Bow, Coco Chanel and Gloria Swanson are the inspiration for Fiona Fewer’s new collection for Dink Design, a handmade jewellery line she set up two years ago. Each piece in her Antique Chic collection, made with faceted Czech glass beads and honey coloured pearls, is called after one of these women and at €15 for earrings and up to €65 for necklaces, they are stylish and affordable accessories. Fewer is a graduate of NCAD who turned her hobby into a business when she became a mother. She can also make to commission and sells from her website dinkdesign.ie. This Minnie necklace costs €50.