For the first time in 10 years, the Derry-born couturier, Jen Kelly, staged a spring rather than his usual winter catwalk show. He served up his collection with afternoon tea and champagne to guests at his house on North Great George's Street yesterday afternoon.
"I wanted to indulge in summer fabrics as opposed to the brocades and silk velvets I am known for and to give a sense of the opulence of what we do and a sense of occasion during the day," Mr Kelly told The Irish Times. As one of the few Irish manufacturers left, he also made an eloquent plea for the survival of Irish clothing and craft skills at a time of increased offshore production.
The 36 items modelled in the show came in delectable, opulent fabrics like emerald green silk satin, hand-painted chiffon, sapphire silk shantung and sugar pink tweed of the type used by Chanel, with extravagant hats by the veteran milliner, Alice O'Reilly. "Ladies ask for couture daywear for lunches, for professional functions and special events," he explains.
Glamour is always the propelling force of Mr Kelly's approach and a dramatic full length leopard print opera coat and a jacket in the same predatory motif might certainly trigger a lady's hunting instinct not to speak of a killer suit in a combination of snakeskin and leather.
Such drop-dead items are always par for the course at a fashion show, but according to Mr Kelly, today's endangered species are not just reptiles or furry four-footed animals, but couturiers and craftspeople like himself. He warned that 21 per cent VAT on clothing manufacturing is crippling what is left of the industry in Ireland.
"I am the only Irish couture house manufacturing in Ireland. The industry that once employed 40,000 people has been decimated. Our lace, tweed, linen and even knitting industries are all dying out. When a customer orders a dress, 50 per cent of our take goes to the Government. In France, indigenous industries are protected. Why not here?"
He said that at a time when Ireland had one of the best fashion education systems, with numbers growing every year, there would be no place in this country for graduates in the future. "We can't give these people their first starts and the trade will die if it continues to be taxed so heavily. Where will they go? How will they compete? I employ five people full time - it used to be 10 - but if VAT on manufacturing was reduced by 10 per cent we could turn it into jobs and pass on the skills of our trade."
