As Dubliners shivered in snow and freezing temperatures yesterday, BT2's fashion show offered a promise of sunnier times with a summery array of colourful prints, patterns and zany accessories. The venue, St Michael's Church on Essex Quay, was transformed for the occasion into an urban beach with 200 deckchairs, moon balloons, ice-cream cones and seaside buckets containing invitations to an after-show party.
Clothes matched the upbeat, light-hearted spirit, many of them young and funky labels from Los Angeles with names such as True Meaning, Molly and Halebob. "It is the prettiest and most colourful season we've had for a long time," Ms Jo Smith, brand director of BT2, told The Irish Times. "And there is definitely more colour in menswear too."
A key feature is the fuller skirt in printed gypsy or circular shapes, worn with metallic linen or glitter tweed jackets and shiny green peep-toe or cork-wedge heels. Floral prints and coloured stripes were everywhere, from halterneck dresses with sequinned trims to short-sleeved shirts for men worn with Argyle check vests.
Jeans, as always, predominated, some long and skinny and embellished with embroidered satin panels or upholstered with baby doll tops in chiffon or velvet. The whole show, drawn together by stylist Sinead Keenan from an assortment of labels was fresh, cheeky but ladylike, with cotton brocade coats worn over 1960s floral dresses or graphic, Pucci-style prints.
BT2's core customer base is the l8-30 age group and though key brands are big, international names such as Diesel, French Connection and Hilfiger, less well-known newcomers are introduced each season.