DEIRDRE MCQUILLANrounds up this week's fashion
SHEEP GO TO THE SLOPES
These cute little scarves and hats are from Electronic Sheep, an Irish label specialising in knits, from the combined talents of best friends Brenda Aherne, a knitwear expert, and graphic designer Helen Delany. They set up their business in 1999, inspired by a question from Blade Runnerand the Philip K Dick novel it's based on, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Their latest collection is a riff on classic skiwear with a hybrid of abstract forms, Japanese woodblock prints and their own comic images in lambswool. They're also collaborating with ATCN (A Tribe Called Next) on a special edition hat and scarf. See electronicsheep.com for stockists.
ANTIPODEAN ELEGANCE
Martin Grant is a Paris-based Australian designer with a cult following; there is no hype or ostentation about the low-key way he works and it shows in the clothes. The stylish Helen Lambert (recently profiled in My Style) is one of his fans, and even his most deceptively simple dresses look sensational when worn. Here in Ireland, Kate Gleeson of Diffusion (who was the first to introduce Didier Ludot’s wonderful little black dresses from Paris to her Clontarf boutique) has a number of pieces from Grant this season, including a shapely black coat with funnel collar and another cocoon style in pale wool along with some elegant evening dresses (right, €1,069). With coats costing about €1,000, these pieces are expensive, but top quality. Diffusion is open Sundays, noon-6pm. Tel: 01-8331592.
HAUTE COUTURE HEAD HONCHOS
Fashion Makers Fashion Shapersby Anne-Celine Jaeger is one of the few really interesting new books about the business that every aspirant fashion designer should read. It's based on interviews, in question and answer format, with key figures – famous designers, buyers and trend forecasters. The designers include Dries Van Noten, Luella Bartley and Paul Smith, along with the founders of labels such as Acne, APC and American Apparel. Steve Van Doren of Vans, for instance, remembers his father launching his Van Doren Rubber Company in l966. In 2004, it was sold for $396 million and Van Doren became vice-president. Other revealing interviews are with Catriona Macnab, head of trends at the forecasting company WSGN; Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue, and Coco Rocha, one of the most photographed models in the world. It has more than 265 illustrations, and is published by Thames Hudson (£17.95).
