Big spenders are back as €2,000 Valentino dresses sell out at Brown Thomas

BOOMING sales of luxury goods at Dublin’s Brown Thomas suggest the good times are back, at least for those prepared to spend big on the latest ‘must have’ shoes and dresses of the summer.

The Grafton Street store received delivery in late May of 12 Valentino dresses from the designer’s pre-autumn collection.

Two weeks later, all 12 dresses by the luxurious French brand — costing around €2,000 apiece — had been sold.

The rapid sale of the dozen luxurious dresses was not the only recent sign that the wallets of big spenders are back out when it comes to designer labels.

The store also took delivery of a similarly highend range of black patent Christian Dior kitten heel slingbacks. Already there is a waiting list for the “must have” shoe of the summer, which cost €730.

“To have a collection come in and to be sold out in two weeks feeds you a lot of good information,” said Shelly Corkery, fashion director at the Brown Thomas Group.

“From a fashion point of view, people want wonderful luxury pieces still. The waiting list for the Dior kitten heel is proof that people know what they want,” said Corkery.

She confirmed that half of their latest drop of Pre-Fall from Dolce & Gabbana is sold, with particular interest in the ‘Ortensia’ pieces featuring a print of green-and-white hydrangeas.

The buy-to-wear pieces were made up in everything from T-shirts to jackets, trousers to silky maxis and while BT’s have items from €695 to €3,000, interest in the €2,250 pencil dress peaked after Monaco’s Princess Charlotte Casiraghi was pictured wearing it at a wedding in Rome.

Corkery said “it is the want, need and requirement for newness” that is driving this shopping zeal. This desire for newness is underlined by the customer practice of requesting one-offs, Corkery said, adding that “85pc of our business is local and we are very close to our customers. People are watching the collections online, they see the collections from brands and make orders for specific things before we go to buy”.

On the handbag front, Fendi are being introduced to BTs on July 4, joining Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton in the accessories hall, which got a €9m facelift as part of the store’s three-year €24m investment programme.

French brand Chloé is building a boutique within the ground floor accessories hall which opens on August 5.