Star power: Brown Thomas a magnet for world’s most famous people

Brown Thomas has been a magnet for visiting megastars throughout its history, playing host to stars of the silver screen in the mid-20th century and more recently welcoming modern celebrities launching their own brands.

Royalty even deigned to visit the legendary Grafton Street department store; during Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco’s 1961 visit to Ireland it was one of their many pit stops, to view a photography exhibition. The shop, decorated in red and white – the Monaco colours – was closed to the public for the occasion but reports note that all present agreed the princess, one of the most famous people in the world at the time, was “utterly exquisite and charming”.

Of course, Princess Grace had the distinction of being both Hollywood royalty and actual royalty, but many other luminaries of cinema’s golden age visited Brown Thomas, including Ingrid Bergman, Rita Hayworth and Irish movie star Maureen O’Hara.

Orla Walsh is an Irish artist whose father-in-law Liam Walsh was the managing director of Brown Thomas in the 60s and 70s. She says he often regaled her with tales of the shop’s glamour – and how, for him, some days it had even more star attraction than others.

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“One day some of the staff came up to his officer to fetch him; they said John Wayne had arrived in,” Walsh recalls. The Duke, as Wayne was known, for a time one of Hollywood’s biggest stars – in every sense – was indeed browsing downstairs.

“He was this huge man but they said he was incredibly soft and kind and was picking up some Waterford Crystal,” says Walsh. “He wanted to buy a pair of gloves so they went into the glove section, which was vast, but they’d nothing to fit him because his hands were so big.”

More recently, in 2015, Oscar-nominated English actor Richard E Grant flew in to launch his unisex fragrance, Jack Perfume, while a visit in 2006 by Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, launching her collection with make-up brand Mac in Brown Thomas, saw hundreds queuing on Grafton Street to meet her.

Brown Thomas is, of course, known for carrying a huge array of high-end labels and has hosted their top designers on many occasions. In 1950 an exact replica of the Dior Salon in Paris was established in the store, its opening attended by Christian Dior himself. Fast-forward to more recent times and notable designers who have visited to celebrate Brown Thomas carrying their creations include Jonathan Anderson, Richard Quinn, Stella McCartney and Roland Mouret.

Former Spice Girl turned fashion designer Victoria Beckham came to promote her eponymous line in 2012 and again to celebrate the launch of her make-up collection with Esteé Lauder in 2017. Both visits generated considerable buzz, with Beckham charming everyone she met – music, make-up, and fashion fans alike.

Other celebrated singers have visited too – Canadian crooner Michael Bublé had fans swooning when he unveiled Brown Thomas’s famed Christmas window display in 2011, as did Robbie Williams on a 2012 drop-in for the launch of his men's wear brand Farrell. Notoriously, Rolling Stone and bona fide legend Ronnie Wood rocked out in the window of BT2 in 2009 with his son’s band Black Swan, unsurprisingly bringing Grafton Street to a standstill.

Helen Christianesen, Yasmin Le Bon, Georgia May Jagger, Erin O’Connor, Linda Evangelista and Elle Macpherson are among the top models to have crossed the BT threshold, while just last year Kate Moss, one of the original supermodels and herself a major style icon, came to launch her beauty and wellness brand Cosmoss. Wafting through the crowd in a sparkling gold dress, she spoke one-on-one with almost everyone invited to the event while casually spritzing them with her wellbeing fragrance. No one complained.

Actress and television presenter Cat Deeley was also in store last year, to launch her unisex fragrance oil, Elleven.

Back in 2013 another TV star – and proud Irishwoman – Laura Whitmore travelled home to launch the Brown Thomas autumn winter 2013 collections, while in 2016 Charlotte Tilbury visited to promote her eponymous brand, now sold at one of Brown Thomas’s busiest make-up counters.

Just recently, fashion guru turned make-up mogul Trinny Woodall staged a takeover as her brand Trinny London gained its own counter in the Beauty Hall – her team of make-up artists were impossible to miss in their sequinned silver capes.

Even sports stars have taken the time to make an appearance at Brown Thomas – footballing legend Pelé paid a visit in 2003. Again, the crowds descended but the Brazilian superstar had recently broken his right wrist, meaning he couldn’t sign the many pieces of soccer paraphernalia fans had brought. Instead, he cheerily took hundreds of photos with beaming football fans. English footballers Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne have also been visitors – hopefully they were able to sign some autographs.

And aside from all those official visits, many stars have been spotted in store over the years, quietly browsing and buying. Actors Jamie Foxx, Megan Fox and Amber Heard have nipped in while visiting the capital; former US President Bill Clinton even took the time to do some shopping in Brown Thomas when on a state visit in 2000.