Dublin’s reputation as a place to live may have taken a bit of a kicking in recent times, but one style expert still has a positive view on things. “It’s so sophisticated and beautiful that you’re really lucky to live here,” Anya Hindmarch says of the capital. The acclaimed accessories designer — who, in June, was made a dame by Britain’s King Charles in recognition of her services to fashion and business — was in the city to launch her first pop-up boutique at Brown Thomas.
Housed in the Grafton Street store, it features her main line of classic leather handbags, as well as more quirky homewares and accessories. A selection of designs by Anya Hindmarch, who has a new pop-up at Brown Thomas Grafton Street Over lunch at Wilde in The Westbury hotel, she spoke about how she began working in fashion at age 18 — spending time in Florence, home to some of the world’s leading leather craftspeople — before later launching her own brand. “For me, the point of a beautiful handbag is actually how it makes you feel,” she told invited guests.
” Somehow you stand a bit taller, you look people in the eye, you almost forget what you’re wearing. And, of course, a handbag is about leaving home and having what you need. Feeling organised, feeling together and feeling you can cope with anything.
” Though being prepared and being creative are often though to be mutually exclusive, Hindmarch tells me that “you need to be organised to be creative”. Organisation is .
