Waking Hours

Travelling the world in the name of fashion

Every day is so different. I spend six months of the year travelling around the world. Usually, it’s eight weeks at a go. I’m the fashion director of the Brown Thomas Group. If I’m in Dublin, I’m up at 6am. My partner, Paul, is in London during the week. He works in retail as well — in Selfridges — so, thankfully, he understands the business. If you didn’t, you’d think I was going around having a fantastic time. Paul is home every Thursday, and then leaves on a Sunday. I live in Foxrock with our daughter, Cameron. Because I’m away so much, I have a childminder.

In the mornings, I’m fully made-up and dressed before I leave the house. Even if I’m travelling, I wouldn’t travel without my make-up on. It’s just the way I am.

This job is not for the faint-hearted. I check my phone to see what is in store for the day ahead. I might have meetings, lunches, or I might be at my desk. When I first came to work here, I was on the buying team, and then I moved up to head of fashion. I’ve been the fashion director of the Brown Thomas Group for nine years.

For breakfast, I have porridge with fruit, and coffee. I do the school run with Cameron. I’ll have Q102 on the radio, and she’ll change it to Spin. She’s got a hectic day as well, because she’s in transition year. She fills me in on her day, and I tell her a few things that I’m doing.

Motherhood is such an amazing gift. It never stopped me doing anything, but it brings lots more to your life. I was always a very organised person, but when you have to think of another person first, that’s another discipline. Your energy levels have to be up. We all tailor-make our lives to fit into the speed that we can. I can’t do the school collection at 4pm, and I miss that. I remember coming home from school in the afternoons with my mum, chatting about my day.

I’m in work for 8.20am. I love this time of year. Christmas is so magical in the store. You see the windows, everything lit up, and there are trees everywhere.

The Marvel Room is so beautiful. This will be its eighth year. One day, I realised that we had womenswear, menswear, shoes, beauty and homewares, but what about gifts for Christmas? I was influenced by all these tricksy little stores in Paris, so I asked our team to come up with ideas.

They had to be magnificent, aspirational and quirky — something that you’d want. It could be a Tiffany diamond worth thousands, or cards for €2. I wanted to have things that you wouldn’t be able to buy anywhere else. And we like to have limited-edition pieces. This year, we’ve developed the tech side of it.

I think Christmas is a lovely time. People give gifts, and it’s a very kind thought. I don’t like to receive as much, but I love to give. I love searching for the appropriate present for someone. Life is tough and everyone is working 90 miles an hour, but it’s a time when everyone stops. I think that’s a good thing.

We take on a lot of extra staff for Christmas. People are looking for party wear, and lots of women want to invest in a new dress. They want to treat themselves. Yes, some people wait for the sales, but if you’re looking for something you love, you’ll get it in the season. Always remember that the sale is for the end of the line.

Eighty-two per cent of our business is local. We have regular customers, and we know them very well. When I’m travelling to the shows, I think about them. They are very loyal and they know what they like. We invite them in for fashion shows and other events in the store.

We’ve come through recessions, and even during recessions, we were quite brash. When times were tough, we decided to make the store more beautiful. After all, we are a luxury store. We spent €9m on the ground floor, and we talked to big brands about investing in the business. It was a brave move in a difficult time, but we were planning for the future. It worked, because business is great. I think people are buying more intelligently now.

Sometimes this job doesn’t feel like a job. That’s because I adore it. Fashion is part of my DNA, but I’m also very interested in the commerce side of it. Fashion changes so fast, so you’ve got to be a smart thinker and to be able to think ahead.

When I’m away for the fashion weeks, it’s very intense. It could be New York for five days, home for one; then off to London for four days, home for one; and then it’s on to Milan. The trick is to be able to pack savvy and to move at a pace.

There is such a buzz at the fashion shows, and you get a kick out of it. There is Kate Moss on one side and Anna Wintour nearby. Outside of the shows, there is so much going on. Street fashion is really interesting. I used to see Bill Cunningham, the great New York Times photographer, running around taking photos of street fashion. He stopped me once to admire my coat.

If I’m home in Dublin, I try to have lunch or dinner with my girlfriends once a week. I go to the gym at least three times a week — to make up for all the croissants I eat when I’m away. The week goes so fast, and before I know it, it’s Thursday and Paul is home. We go out for dinner every Saturday night, and I cook a big family dinner on Sundays. I try to have some time on my own, too. Life goes so quickly, you have to make time for yourself.

I’m in bed by 10.30pm with all the fashion magazines. I sleep all night. I think that’s a great gift.

“During the recession, we were quite brash. We made the store more beautiful”