Desire Lines: Dundalk designer hosts studio event for all shapes and sizes

Plus a coffee machine that’s both an automatic filter coffee maker and an espresso capsule machine

Dundalk designer Caroline Duffy recently invited “real women” into her studio to model her latest pieces. The idea? To prove the pieces can and do look gorgeous on all shapes and sizes.

The dress

Dundalk designer Caroline Duffy recently invited “real women” into her studio to model her latest pieces. The idea? To prove the pieces can and do look gorgeous on all shapes and sizes. 

Caroline Duffy Dream Blue Scarf Dress, €495

“I put a call out on Instagram looking for women to volunteer. I was blown away with over 400 replies,” Duffy said. 

The women chosen – Pat Kane, Vivian Wong, Johanna Costigan, Louise Ryan, and Rosalyn Cleere – “represent resilience, softness, creativity, and spirit,” she said. 

The joyful, floral-led collection is available in select boutiques in Ireland and Spain, and online. We adore the scarf dress, €495.

• carolineduffydesigns.com

The collaboration

Fitness wearable WHOOP has enlisted British designer Samuel Ross of SR_A to launch the brand’s first foray into ‘technical outerwear’. 

WHOOP x SR_A.

The Project Terrain collaboration features elevated designs that make the fitness hardware stand out – the Solare Technical Running Jacket, for example, features a wrist window that keeps the device visible mid-run.

If your fitness brand is your personality, you’ll like this one. €189.

• whoop.ie

The Easter egg

We’re always on the lookout for something a little different, so kudos to Baileys Chocolate for the launch of its blockbuster Caramelised Popcorn Egg, €15. The milk chocolate shell is infused with Baileys Original Irish Cream, packed full of whole pieces of caramelised popcorn for a sweet-and-salty crunch.

Baileys Chocolate Caramelised Popcorn Egg.

Meanwhile, the salted caramel option returns for a second year in 2026. Designed by Lir Chocolates in Navan, Co Meath, the range will be available from stores including Tesco, SuperValu, Dunnes Stores, Brown Thomas, Arnotts, Carroll’s Gift Stores, Avoca, Dublin Airport and selected speciality stores.

• lirchocolates.com

The locally brewed beer

Set alongside Dundrum Town Centre, Brickyard is much more than your average bar. Driven by a passion for craft beer and for supporting smaller producers, the owners set out to showcase the best of Irish and international craft beer alongside quality gastro-style food, cocktails, and a strong local neighbourhood feel. 

Set alongside Dundrum Town Centre, Brickyard is much more than your average bar.

In conjunction with craft beer pub, 57 The Headline on Clanbrassil Street, in 2018, they created Two Sides Brewing and their first beer, Two Yards.

Today their beers are brewed in Third Barrel in Bluebell, Dublin 12, and they pour seven of their own top selling beers. 

The core range includes Brickline, the house Pilsner, Two Yards, a hazy pale ale, a German-style Helles lager, Fleetwood Black, a nitro stout; alongside rotational IPAs and a dark lager.

• brickyard.ie

The seafood and cocktail bar

Allta na Farraige Seafood & Cocktail bar is the latest addition to Allta, Niall Davidson’s edgy and innovative Dublin restaurant.

A new dedicated 14-seat counter with just two sittings each evening is a standalone experience with no crossover from the main dining room menu. 

Allta na Farraige.

In Ireland’s first cocktail bar using exclusively Irish spirits, guests are seated at the counter while dishes are cooked directly in front of them over a yakitori grill by head chef David Preda.

The concise menu features eight signature cocktails curated by Mexican head bartender Erin Padilla Mendoza in collaboration with independent Irish distillers including Micíl Poitín, Killowen Whiskey (exclusively bottled for Allta), Valentia Island Vermouth, Stillgarden liqueurs from Inchicore, and more. Form an orderly queue for the hottest opening in the capital.

• allta.ie

The coffee machine

Best known for its air-fryers, Ninja has launched the Ninja Prestige DualBrew System, a coffee machine that’s both an automatic filter coffee maker and an espresso capsule machine.

Ninja Prestige DualBrew System.

Brilliantly versatile, it’s also compatible with Nespresso Original capsules and other third-party brands. The 2-in-1 design includes a built-in fold-away milk frother for silky hot or cold froth, ensuring everyone’s favourite style of coffee is achievable, €289.99.

• ninjakitchen.ie

The make-up tool

We adore Chanel’s latest make-up brush set, Les Pinceaux, from the Rouge Noir collection. The touch up face brush, eye contouring brush and rounded eye shadow brush, €135, come in a lush, velvet wrap.

Les Pinceaux make-up brush set from the Rouge Noir collection

A trio of professional make-up tools for precise, confident application and a flawless, tailor-made makeup look.

• chanel.com