Shopfront: Until now the Cow's Lane Market in Temple bar has been known only as a place to buy clothing and accessories from Irish fashion designers such as Suki & Nic and Alistan Munroe.
Last Saturday it moved indoors because of the cold weather, but also to make space for many new stands, including Mash, a collective of 10 furniture designers who finished their degrees at DIT last May.
While the Mash space is small and as yet there are only a few pieces on display, the idea is to pool resources and abilities. As they say themselves: "When we get off our arses, the results can be quite good".
Last September, Mash exhibited at Designers Block in London, a spin-off show to the long-established 100% Design, the interior design equivalent of London Fashion Week.
The light pictured here was designed by 23-year-old Jonathan Legge and costs €65. Made from wire frame boxes strategically filled with pieces of black slate, the idea came from watching daylight filter through gaps in the stone walls of Connemara. The boxes can be used as single pieces or stacked one on top of the other. Mash has also come up with a nice way to try to increase your awareness of design details on Dublin streets and buildings: pick up a flyer and answer questions such as "what geometric shapes are you treading on as you walk through the Trinity arch?" Get them all correct and you win a prize! View their designs at
www.mash.ie
Another thing worth having a look for at The Cow's Lane Market - particularly with Christmas gifts in mind - are faux fur throws (double bed size, €375), cushions (€45) and hot water bottle covers (€55) by London designer Daniel Tabbi.
Operating from a showroom in Spitalfields, Tabbi sells to Selfridges and Liberty's and stretches faux fur into all manner of items for the body and home (the oddest being greeting cards).
His have been brought over here by an enterprising DJ called Jenny Fahey, who is selling them at cheaper prices than those you might find in the department stores mentioned.
Although you might think "tacky" when it comes to faux fur, that's partly the point - there's more than a little irony in this stuff. Best buy might be the hot water bottles, which come in many colours and make great winter-time presents.
Saturday at Cow's Lane Market, St Michael and John's Church, Temple Bar on the corner of Cow's Lane and East Essex Street.
