It's one thing buying designer clothes but everybody knows that buying from the people who supply the designers is where it's really at. Just imagine - "Well of course, Louise Kennedy wanted this design but I got there first . . . " Many people got just that opportunity when the Tower Design Centre off Pearse Street opened the doors for its Christmas fair on Wednesday.
Follow the winding stairs up to the sixth floor of the stone building and you'll find the handpainted silks and velvets of Mel Bradley. Mel has hardly touched ground recently, following the success of her silk fabrics in John Rocha's spring/summer 1998 collection of "mad shirts" that wowed the world's fashion media. It's not Mel's first designer commission by any means - her fabric designs were used in Louise Kennedy's uniforms for Aer Lingus, in Michelina Stacpoole wraps for the US market and most famously for Michael Flatley's shirt for Riverdance. Michael liked it so much he took it with him when he left for the US and Mel was commissioned for more.
One of the most crowded studios on the night was of course jeweller Alan Ardiff's. Alan, who is also exhibiting his darling little brooches, pendants and miniature sculptures in Josephine Kelliher's Rubicon Gallery, is one of the most unusual and celebrated jewellers in Ireland. When comedian Billy Connolly was here recently he couldn't resist three of Alan's pieces and since then his work has found its way into the wardrobes of Jean Butler, Mary Robinson and RTE's Cynthia Ni Mhurchu.
Another success story of the Tower is artist Roisin O'Shea, the woman behind the Ugly Duckling Company. Roisin's highly successful cartoon character, Biddy, who is based on her childhood imaginary friend, will be making the leap from print to screen in the new year, after RTE's Liam Miller approached her about making a children's animated series. The fair was opened by Alan Hughes and Aoife Lowry, the producer and star of St Anthony's Theatre's pantomime, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Aoife (16) was chosen to play the role only two weeks ago following open auditions announced on RTE's Echo Island. This year the fair is supporting Cerebral Palsy Ireland, and if you want to bag some designer booty you have today and tomorrow to get to the fair - although the Tower, of course, remains open its usual hours.