Style Notes: Sharon Hoey joins Arc fashion show line-up and Magee 1866 goes wild for new collection

Traditionally one of the biggest fashion shows of the year in the country, this is the ninth consecutive show raising funds for Arc. It will be produced by Eddie Shanahan and will feature 24 fashion designers, eight milliners and three accessories designers so, all in all, a massive night for Irish creatives.

Sharon will be showing her new AndTate SS24 collection, which crosses from full-on glamour occasion and evening wear, such the ‘Cleo’ dress in Kelly green, to stylish dresses, satin coats and glamorous mix-and-match separates that allow you to play with the elements to suit the day.

After more than three decades as an acknowledged expert in the bridal market, Sharon has discovered a whole new genre of customer with her AndTate line, which she started during the pandemic with a range of white shirts.

Since then, it has developed very organically into something exciting, and the public’s response has vindicated her gut feeling to expand.

The new collection, which she is showing at the Arc event, was inspired by the 1930s, including the wardrobe of Wallis Simpson, and Sharon is carrying this on into the next season or two, so there’s the clear sense of wardrobe building.

“At the moment, everything is very ladylike, very elegant, and that’s where we are coming from with this SS24 collection,” Sharon explained as she gave me a walk-through in advance of the show.

“We have taken a really nice ladylike aesthetic, applying it to some modern-day shapes. I like very structured shapes so we are keeping that and adding in colour.”

A perfect example of this is the ‘Cleo’ dress (€750) — modern and sleek but factoring in 1930s elements, like the pussycat bow, the sexy shoulders that are cutaway “but not too much” and the play of contrasting fabrics, something the Dublin designer loves to do in her work.

“A lot of what I do is a play between satin and crepe, between shine and matt,” Sharon says. The satin bottom band on the A-line ‘Cleo’ goes up higher in the front of the dress, which is also available in baby blue, Kelly green, black, navy, champagne and tomato red.

Sharon’s blue satin ‘Dusk’ coat has been cleverly cut with a subtle curve factor which you can see on the side and also on the centre back seam, and it creates that old-world glamour.

“I love, love, love coats, I never have enough of them, so this was a must for me,” says Sharon. The ‘Dusk’ (€975) can be worn over the ‘Clair de Lune’ T-shirt top (€325) in an Italian satin back crepe — a key fabric for the design house — and with the ‘Claudia’ wrap skirt (€525).

Alternatively, Sharon suggests that the ‘Dusk’ coat could be worn perhaps more casually with palazzo trousers or cigarette-end pants cropped at the ankle, but there is also the possibility of getting a special occasion out of it worn with the ‘Carolina’ dress (€850) which has a double puff sleeve and satin-finish neck bow.

This season, Sharon has introduced the ‘Drew’ wrap-over jacket (€595), which ties at the waist. Made in a flat poplin, it has deep cuffs and handmade buttons. She is also doing it in a crepe fabric and, for the show, it will be styled with a full-circle skirt in a white pique fabric with signature crinoline hem (€595).

The Arc event will be opened by author Emily Hourican. The catwalk show will feature professional models alongside ‘Arc Angels’ — women who have gone through cancer and are Arc support users. Tickets for the show cost €65 each. arccancersupport.ie

Wild Atlantic inspiration

I’m long overdue a visit to Donegal, and one of the first places I want to visit is Murvagh beach after seeing the campaign imagery from the new collection from Magee 1866.

Its SS24 collection was inspired by the windswept and sandy shorelines of the county on the Wild Atlantic Way.

This is a fifth-generation Irish family brand with more than 150 years’ experience in designing and weaving natural-fibre fabrics, and Charlotte Temple, the creative director, explained how the seascapes and shorelines of Donegal were the starting point for SS24 collection. Bright blue seas and sandy hues are told in soft stripes, solids, subtle herringbones and salt and pepper weaves.

Favourites include the ‘Grace’ jacket, the ‘Josie’ coat (€525) in lemon yellow, the brand’s take on the contemporary tweed coat in an Irish wool herringbone weave, and also the ‘Roisin’ quilted jacket (€275) and ‘Lizzie’ gilet (€199) in an exclusive fabrication of Made with Liberty Fabrics ‘Love Links’ heart print. Very cute. magee1866.com.