There's something about Mary!

.....The customer really is right.....

Perhaps one of the reasons that women are so passionate about Mary Grant's clothes is that Mary herself is so passionate about what she does.

Now almost 20 years in business, Mary trained at the Bourke College of Fashion in Dublin for 2 years, where she was named 'Designer of the Year' at the graduation fashion show in 1992. She immediately went into business for herself.

She likens her success to the story of The Elf & The Shoemaker, starting with nothing, selling 1 dress and making enough for another 2.....selling those 2 and making enough to do another 4 and so on.....
In 1996, she was commissioned by RTE to dress Eimear Quinn for the Eurovision song contest. Eimear's win ('The Voice') for Ireland in Oslo, and the press coverage it brought, naming Eimear as the best dressed contestant made the label a household name in Ireland.

3 years later in 1999, Mary was voted 'Designer of the Year' by the Institute of Designers in Ireland.

For the next several years, she kept a low profile raising her 3 young children and building very solid relationships with her carefully chosen Irish Business partners.

In 2007, with the kids all out of nappies and off to school, Mary decided that the time was right to forge ahead with the business. Over a bottle of wine, she convinced her partner to take a little career break from his civil service job and see what he made of the fashion world ( after all, he already spent more time shopping than she did!!). Obviously (!) he couldnt resist the challenge, and took over the business side of things, freeing Mary up to concentrate on design.

In 2008, at Dublin Fashion week, the Mary Grant label was chosen for the Brown Thomas mentoring award. Brown Thomas were taking a huge interest in and helping to promote and nurture Irish design, and very generously gave Mary the opportunity of a 2 week guest concession in a prime location in their Dublin store. Due to the instant success and that of subsequent guest concessions over the following 2 seasons, the Mary Grant collection has found a very happy second home in the Brown Thomas soft dressing room, where a strong following of the label continues to grow.

.....The Look.....

With feedback being the no 1 design tool of this talented designer, it is hardly surprising that Mary has more than 1 string to her bow!

'The Black Label'

The look that first drew attention to the Mary Grant label was work inspired ..... The words 'pin-stripe' and ' tailored suit' spring to mind, but fortunately for Irish fashion, Mary doesn't think (or design) like any one else.

It's the purposeful utility clothes of good old fashion manual grafters, and not the office uniform of modern commerce that fired Mary's imagination.

Pinnies and dungarees in luxurious linens and silks, with signature buckles and quirky hardware ..all became the now famous signature of Mary Grant's collections.... The new working wardrobe of fashion..... an effortlessly chic and up market ladies wear collection, which are all designed in Ireland.

'The Pink Label'

The Pink Label is all about layering & came later....

As a young working mother with another on the way, Mary noticed that, for her, the jerseys in the collection were starting to take on a life of their own, as they were so easy to wear and care for.

A lot of research went into finding exactly the right one and a few seasons later, she found it, the Mary Grant signature jersey....the most luxurious and comfortable fabric that you could wear next to your skin every day. This jersey formed the base for every layered look that followed. They are the pieces that carry from season to season, summer to winter .....and back to summer again.....There is just no substitute.

Colour plays a huge part in completing the layered look and Mary encourages her clients to mix and match pieces from various seasons creating a look that is totally individual, a look all of its own.....a look which is most definately..... Mary Grant.....