Golf club fashion show offers rare chance to buy creations by celebrated designer
There’s something a bit extra-special about the fashion show that is to take place at Mullingar Golf Club on Friday November 13.
That’s because it represents probably a final occasion for fashionistas to have a chance to buy pieces created by the late great Irish designer, Matt O’Donohoe, who moved to Mullingar in the late noughties.
Matt’s family still had the outfits from the last collection Matt created – and while they were shown at a fashion show at the golf club last year, this year, they will be shown again – but also available for sale, thanks to the generosity of the O’Donohoe family.
Miriam MacManus, who is organising the event, explains that the golf club has a lot of developments under way at present, and the funds raised through the night and the O’Donohoe family’s donation will go towards its youth programmes. “We have more than 300 juniors at present,” she says.
The Matt O’Donohoe collection is just one dimension of the evening’s catwalk couture. Several of Mullingar’s leading shops are taking part, including The Fashion Shop, Female Boutique, Pamela Scott, Shaw’s Department Store, Venezuela, Carrig Dunn, Galvin’s, Tom Bermingham Menswear, Wilf’s and Foy’s, as well as the Mullingar Golf Club Pro Shop showcasing the latest in stylish golf wear.
There will also be a capsule collection from local designer Roma Bern, and the local Irish luxury handbags and accessories brand, Ted 1942 – owned by husband and wife team Brendan and Kasia McEvoy – is also participating.
Some of the Matt O’Donohoe outfits will be auctioned on the night, and the others will be on sale over the following two days.
Among the highlights is a wonderful full-length dress with matching coat that would be ideal for a winter bride.
Matt, a graduate of the Grafton Academy in Dublin, operated from a workshop and studio in Wicklow Street in the capital for some 35 years.
Matt was famous for his haute couture collections and especially his blouses, coats and suits. He dressed such models as Celia Holman Lee and Grace O’Shaughnessy in his day. The late Kathleen Watkins was also a fan of Matt’s collections.
In the early 1970s, Matt was one of 10 Irish fashion designers along with the renowned Ib Jorgenson to hold a fashion show on a Jumbo Jet across the Atlantic. It was to promote Irish designers and Irish fashion and was hugely successful.
He moved to Mullingar in 2007, and a year later, his first Mullingar fashion show took place at the golf club. He held shows for many local charities – the Lions Club, the Soroptimists, the Midland Regional Hospital – to name a few.
Most of Matt’s samples are to fit sizes 8 and 10, although there were also a few size 12s, and the collection to be shown at the golf club includes some beautiful coats – which like all of Matt’s pieces, he hand by himself by hand.
The items not auctioned at the fashion show will be sold on the Saturday and Sunday at a designated time (to be confirmed). Anyone interested can ring the golf club closer to the date to find out the time at 04493 48366.