Eamonn helps bring BT Christmas dreams to life
THE unveiling of the Brown Thomas Christmas window in Grafton Street always marks the start of the festive season in the capital and while this year’s event took place without the usual throngs of shoppers, a video of the enchanting display has gone viral, attracting over 1.5million views. It features a song by 17-year-old Nell Mescal, sister of ‘Normal People’ star Paul, while a young girl gazes into the beautifully decorated window.
Dundalk fashion designer Eamonn McGill played a major role in creating the magical display, designing the beautiful costumes which are central to the captivating display.
This is the third year that the former Marist student has worked on the costumes for the Brown Thomas Christmas windows.
‘We are delighted with the Brown Thomas Christmas windows this year and think they are the best ones yet,’ says Eamonn. ‘ This year the inspiration for the windows was dreams - the idea of escaping into our dreams to enjoy the enchantment of fairy-tales. There is a different story behind each window and we took inspiration from many of the classic fairy-tales including Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland.’
Eamonn and his team only had a limited time to work on the project and he is delighted with the results.
‘We had a very short time turnaround to complete the costumes due to restrictions,’ he explains.’ With a smaller team then ever we pulled it together and I applaud the Brown Thomas creative team who did the same for the visual merchandising work for the windows.’
‘ This year, I believe that we all need a little dreaming, and I thoroughly enjoyed making each costume. I was so blessed to have such a great team working with me and I am hoping that everyone loves ‘ Dreaming Of ’ as much as we do.’
John Redmond, Creative Director Brown Thomas commented ‘ This year to make each window truly unique we customised every mannequin including their costumes which were all handmade by Eamonn McGill and every single piece is placed by hand into the window to draw people into these magical scenes.’
Eamonn was thrilled to get to work on such an exciting project at a time when much of the fashion industry is under
pressure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Unfortunately we have been affected by the pandemic just like most businesses,’ says Eamonn who is well-known for his bespoke red carpet and bridal wear. Since launching Eamonn McGill Design in 2017, just three years after graduating with a BA in Textile Design from the National College of Art and Design, he has designed dresses which have been red carpet events including the Oscars,
Golden Globes, Baftas and Iftas.
‘I think the best thing to do is to stay positive and diversify to stay afloat,’ he says. ‘When there’s no time for red carpet and occasional events we had to diversify to keep relevant. We launched face coverings , a new ready-to-wear collection and we have a few more things up our sleeve for before Christmas.’