"My stones are personalities in themselves," says jeweller Ali Nash of her latest collection, in which faceted rose and white quartz, gold vermeil (silver dipped in 14ct gold), carnelian and agate are the centrepieces.
She gets a lot of inspiration from her widespread travels in Asia and South America (she's a regular visitor to Hong Kong), and from a year spent in Paris living close to the markets where she sourced antique beads and stones.
A former Trinity College student, Nash worked in the National Gallery and did a night course in jewellery in NCAD, setting up on her own four years ago. Her work can be found in the National Gallery of Ireland shop, Seagreen in Monkstown, Kohl in Chq, Myles in Carlow, the Leitrim Design House and Muse in Waterford. Prices are €45 to €60 for earrings, necklaces from €110 to €250 and bracelets from €110 to €150. Many items are limited editions.
See www.alinash.com
City centre couture
People often ask if there are any Dublin city-centre dressmakers, and one who can be recommended is Denise Assas, a French couturier who has been living here since she married an Irishman and set up a little second floor studio at 67 Dame Street. Having trained in Nice, where she won the Gold Needle award from the Esmod school for her year, she is now a one-woman operation, with years of experience. She has recently expanded her premises, where she makes made-to-measure, one-off cocktail, evening and bridal wear, with fabrics mostly sourced from France. Prices are from about €500 upwards, depending on fabric and detail. For an appointment, call 01-6797544.
Good clean advice
"Think climate, wash at 30 degrees" - that's the latest slogan from Marks & Spencer. In Dublin recently, Mike Barry, M&S's head of corporate social responsibility, gave an impassioned speech about climate change and how business and consumers can make a difference. "We sell hundreds of millions of items of clothing in Ireland and the UK every year and two-thirds of the carbon footprint of clothing has to do with the wash cycle, because of the amount of energy used to heat the water," he said. If every household washed at 30 degrees instead of 40 degrees, freshening up clothes that don't need an intense wash, M&S have calculated that 850,000 tonnes of CO2 would be saved every year.
The awareness campaign is part of the company's commitment to try to change everyday consumer habits. "We also want you to take our used clothing back to Oxfam, and recycle hangers - last year we recycled 120 million hangers, double that of the previous year, saving them from landfill," he said.
The opening of Smock on Drury Street in Dublin earlier this month marked a new high for the street, which is fast becoming the city's hottest fashion area. Karen Crawford and Susan O'Connell, who opened their first Smock in Temple Bar seven years ago, now bring their buying skills and hip international labels to a livelier marketplace and location.
The pioneering pair were the first to introduce many now-familiar brands to this country, such as Easton Pearson, the Australians known for their swishy skirts, along with avant garde Belgians such as Martin Margiela (creator of the handbag, right), Bernhard Willem and Veronique Branquinho. Smock also introduced the clothes and accessories of French brands such as Vanessa Bruno and APC, and others such as Akira Isogawa and Tsumori Chisato. New to the shop this winter
will be Vivienne Westwood's Red label. "Our buying is customer-driven," they say, "but we still buy what we love ourselves." The new shop has been designed by A2 architects, Peter Carroll and Caoimhín Murphy, and the girls scored another coup by persuading Taka Naka, the Georgian designers based in London, to design their curtains.
Colourful clothes for kids
Pearl is a lovely new children's wear shop that has just opened on South King Street in Dublin. With a personal and adroitly selected mix of children's clothes from Belgium, Finland, the UK and the US, it is the brainchild of a mother who wanted something other than the usual mix of blue for boys and pink for girls, but couldn't find it.
Sara Spencer, a mother of two children under the age of three, has a background in marketing, and she opened the shop a few weeks ago, with the aim of providing something interesting for mothers looking for clothes - in all colours of the rainbow - for their children. These are clothes with a certain edge and a certain style, which are cleverly designed and practical.
Spencer has chosen labels such as Caramel Baby (pictured above) from London, with its laid back luxury, Kit & Lilli from a New York designer who used to work with Orla Kiely, and two particularly appealing Belgian brands called Maan and Simple Kids.
Proving to be best-sellers are the soft little leather shoes from Petit Nord and Shoo Shoes, pre-walker slippers perfect for little feet taking their first steps. Prices are around €50-€60 for dresses, €70 for coats, while the little shoes are €25 a pair. Pearl is at 30a South King Street (beside Adamson Luggage), 01-6334817.