Joanne Hynes launches the first part of her 10th collection for Dunnes Stores today – her fifth season for the store – and its signature zaniness and brio continues to make her work so recognisable and popular.
Called A Date with Dalí, it takes an arty approach that draws from the surrealist painter in wearable ways, with unlikely combinations of fabrics, as well as from the humour of Elsa Schiaparelli, with jewelled embellishments and cheeky motifs abstracted from some of Hynes’s familiar robot and rabbit prints. Face motifs appearing on tops are also decorated with crystal on sleeves or hand-knitted Aran accessories.
Some pieces bound to be winners include a black bomber jacket in faux ponyskin with silver jewelling, a bit of rock’n’roll worn over a black-and-white silver sequin dress. “I like to wear the jacket as a top over the dress, but my mother wears it with culottes,” she says. It could be worn a third way, with jacket, dress and culottes for chillier days. She models the collection herself here, directed by David Poole and photographed by Tiberio Ventura.
Look out for the foxy black knitted dress with a cute black-and-white chequerboard collar, go-faster sleeve stripes and pink A-line skirt, a shape that’s forgiving but also youthful and girlish – and, according to Hynes, flattering and “sucking you in, in all the right places”.
This winter there are no expensive shearlings or fur coats, and Hynes’s Tiger Lady prints join newcomer Buffalo Girl complete with horns, an image from her time in India.
All this along with her court shoes with their unusual detachable fringed ankle straps (€150 on sale early October) mark the collection out. Part two arrives with more surprises on October 25th. The collection will be launched with an event at Dunnes' Grafton Street store, at 6.30pm today, that will be live-streamed on Instagram. The collection is also available from the St Stephen's Green store and the Dunnes Stores website.
