Stylish duo put Ireland on world stage

IRISH designer Paul Costello’s spring summer 2005 range took centre stage at London Fashion Show yesterday.

He was joined by fellow Dubliner Miss World Rosanna Davison on the cat walk as the critics and buyers applauded the end of the show.

The 59-year-old was at the centre of all the wrong publicity six years ago, when his comments about Irish women drew strong rebukes and criticism. In a newspaper interview, he compared some Irish women to ’ambitious mutton’, inferring they had no sense of style.

However, he later explained he was referring to women who overdress for the sake of it, ‘women who are in high heels when they should be in loafers’.

Ms Davison, daughter of singer Chris De Burgh, was clearly not holding his earlier comments against the award-winning designer, as they took to the catwalk together at the end of yesterday’s show.

Costelloe, noted for his men and women ready-to-wear collections, has previously denounced high-end haute couture clothing. He opened a boutique in London’s Kensington area in 2000, having moved most of his business to Britain in the late 1990s.