Seven leading Irish fashion design labels made their debut yesterday at Copenhagen Fashion Week, the biggest fashion event in Scandinavia and the second-largest in Europe.
The Irish launch at the SAS Royal Hotel, a city-centre landmark designed by Arne Jacobsen in the late 1950s, was spearheaded by Enterprise Ireland in the first of a four-pronged campaign to promote Irish design in northern Europe.
Exhibitors at the event were Avoca Anthology, Aideen Bodkin, N & C Kilkenny, Quin & Donnelly, Deborah Veale, Rachel Mackay and Libra, all showcasing their winter 2006 collections.
Speaking at the salon show launch, the Irish Ambassador to Denmark, James Brennan, said that if Irish fashion design could succeed at home, it could succeed abroad.
"The Danes love Ireland and though they may not have an image of it as a place for high fashion, there is always a door open. Irish economic development impresses them," he said.
Conor Sheehan of Enterprise Ireland in Copenhagen said: "Young Danes are very fashion-
conscious and like the Irish have a lot of disposable income, and that is why there should be a meeting of tastes and minds. Irish fashion is adapting to Danish market needs."
The fashion industry is Denmark's fourth-largest export, and the Copenhagen event attracts some 25,000 buyers from 40 countries.
Some Irish clothing companies like Avoca and Libra have already started to make independent inroads into Scandinavia, but for others like Deborah Veale, whose clothes are worn by President Mary McAleese, it is a new and unknown market.
Over the next few months, the Irish group will travel to trade events in Edinburgh and Antwerp. In September they will present a catwalk show at the Irish embassy in Paris.