Irish designer to wow Oscars

Coming from Maynooth, the home of Ireland’s clerical elite, Laura Jayne Halton would have seen a fair few frocks in her youth — mostly worn by male clerics.

This time round, she is delighted to go all girly and design a dress for the Oscars, to be worn by Academy Awards nominee Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, 26, from Cromane in west Kerry.

“I am absolutely ecstatic,” says Laura Jayne, who was tipped as one to watch at the Ferry Fashion Awards last year.