Our greatest fashion icons
QUESTION Who is the most influential Irish fashion designer? TWO fashion designers, one at the height of her fame in the 1960s, the other a contemporary figure, are two of the most influential designers ever to come from Ireland. No single designer can be selected as being the most influential.
The first was Sybil Connolly, who was very influential for two reasons. She translated familiar sights and materials in Ireland into groundbreaking designs, and she was also the first Irish designer to make it in the US.
She was born in Swansea in 1921; her father was Irish and her mother Welsh, but Sybil Connolly was brought up in Co. Waterford. In 1938, when she was 17, she went to London to study dressmaking at the Irish-owned firm Bradleys, which often made dresses for the British royal family.
But in 1940, with the Second World War in full swing, Bradleys sent all their apprentices home.
Ms Connolly then got a job at the Richard and Alan fashion store on Grafton Street, Dublin, where she gained much experience, both as a designer and in the business side of the fashion trade. By the early 1950s, she broke away and started out on her own.
She took much inspiration from such traditional Irish garments as the báinín jacket, and even from the thatch on cottages.
Ms Connolly landed in the US in 1953, and within six months of her arrival, she had taken the American fashion industry by storm. She had become the first Irish fashion designer to make a big impact outside these islands. She became so fashionable in the US that she designed for Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of a future US president, John F Kennedy.
Eventually, she returned home and set up her workshops, showrooms and her home in Merrion Square, Dublin, where she continued to hold sway in the fashion business. She died in 1998.
The other equally influential fashion designer from Ireland is Philip Treacy, born in Co. Galway in 1967. He started his design education at the National College of Art & Design in Dublin, before moving on to the Royal College of Art in London.
His first big break came in 1991, when he began a long-term working relationship with the Chanel fashion house in Paris. In the years since, he has made his reputation as a world-class hat designer. He has designed hats not only for celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Madonna, but for the British royal family. In 2000, Vogue magazine said that he was ‘perhaps the greatest living milliner’.
Philip Treacy has been showered with awards over the years. In 2007, he was awarded an honorary OBE for his services to the British fashion industry. A total of 36 hats designed by him were worn at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
While Sybil Connolly and Philip Treacy are undoubtedly the two most influential fashion designers from Ireland, many others can claim significant impact.
They have included Neillí Mulcahy, Paul Costelloe, Louise Kennedy, Lainey Keogh, Jacqueline Quinn and John Rocha. For years, Orla Kiely was considered one of the top Irish fashion designers. Although her company came unstuck very recently, many in the industry believe that she will eventually bounce back.
For nearly 70 years now, Irish fashion designers have been making a big impact on the world stage – but none have been more influential than Sybil Connolly and Philip Treacy.
Seán O’Donnell, Waterford. QUESTION How do builders ensure skyscrapers go up straight and true and don’t lean at the top? PLUMB, level and square are the fundamentals of building anything from a wall to a skyscraper.
Plumb means to be perfectly vertical, directed to the gravitational centre of the Earth. Level means perfectly horizontal. Square means that the walls come together at right angles.
Historically, skyscrapers were made from reinforced concrete. This was a painstaking business where every section had to be levelled by a surveyor using a plumb bob and theodolite.
A regular matching of the reference system was required for surveys during the construction phase of a high-rise building once it was a certain height.
Today’s skyscrapers are constructed using steel frames. Pieces of steel are cut and fabricated to very tight tolerances and put up on site, using cables to pull them into a proper perpendicular shape, before tightening everything up.
For very large skyscrapers, the Leica Geosystems Core Wall Survey Control System is used.
This uses GPS observations combined with laser ranges and a precision inclination sensor to provide reliable co-ordinated points.
Corrections have to be made at every phase of the building’s construction.
High-rise buildings are subject to strong external tilt effects caused by wind pressures, thermal effects due to sunlight and earth movements.
Skyscrapers must be built to allow some movement and the materials chosen reflect this.
It’s not just the top the engineers have to worry about: due to settlement, towers can tilt from the bottom up, so sound foundations are absolutely crucial. QUESTION The 1966 World Cup Final is famous for Kenneth Wolstenholme’s over-excited BBC TV commentary. Does footage exist of the German TV commentary? IT CERTAINLY does – though it doesn’t get much of an airing on German TV. The commentary was by Rudi Michel, who covered every World Cup from 1954 to 1982. He also commentated on eight Tours De France.
The commentary for German TV station ARD was deliberately toned down so as not to stir up bad memories of the war.
When Helmut Haller scored for Germany after 12 minutes, Michel’s sole comment was: ‘Goal!’ He then stayed silent for a full 32 seconds.
His commentary continued to be low-key until England’s controversial third goal – it is still debated whether Geoff Hurst’s shot crossed the line.
‘Achtung! Achtung! Nein, nicht im Tor. Kein Tor. Oder doch? Was entscheidet der Linienrichter?’ (‘Attention! Attention! Hey! Not in the goal! No goal! Or is it? Now what will the linesman decide?’)
He then said: ‘Goal! Oh Lord! That will cause discussion now.’ (How true.) Tim Fisher, Birmingham.
O IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Irish Daily Mail, Embassy House, Herbert Park Lane, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. You can also fax them to 0044 1952 510906 or you can email them to charles.legge@dailymail.ie. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.