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the importance of the kilkenny design shops
the importance of the kilkenny design shops
In 1967 a long term KDW shop promotion was set up in B. Altman’s Fifth Avenue department store in New York and in 1969 a shop was opened in the Ghirardelli Square shopping complex in San Francisco. Both shops took staff from Kilkenny either permanently or on an annual basis. They principally sold Kilkenny Design’s pottery, wood, wrought and cast iron, candles and silk screen and tapestry work. The textiles manager at the Workshops, Mortimer O’Shea, believes that the relationship with B. Altmans was particularly important for Irish textiles manufacturers as Altmans would furnish KDW with the specifications for textiles they wanted to buy, allowing KDW to ensure manufacturers knew what the market required. Helena Ruuth designed a towel for the Altmans collection which was highly successful and much copied. The original Kilkenny shop in Kilkenny was quite small and plans to develop a shop in Dublin began to ferment in 1971. It was felt that while Irish goods were being marketed abroad, more needed to be done to promote them in Ireland, especially in the capital. In November 1976 a much larger and more ambitious shop opened in Nassau Street, Dublin, just in time for its first Christmas rush.
Above: Towel designed by Helena Ruuth.
A policy decision was taken to stock non-KDW designs: the best of Irish goods from craftsmen, factories and independent designers were to be included. According to Mary Dowling who managed the Dublin shop until 1985, the aim was “to supply everything for the house which was produced in Ireland and was of good quality”. Finding suppliers for this venture took a year as Mary Dowling and Roderick Murphy, accompanied by designers such as Gustav Sauter and Helena Ruuth, travelled the country looking for designs that could be presented to the shops’ standards committee. Products that had passed the selection panel bore a ‘Kilkenny Selection’ label, distinguishing them from KDW-designed objects. The shops thus gave many Irish craftspeople exposure in an appropriate and upmarket setting. The Dublin shop became a showcase for Irish products and was used as such by CTT, who brought visiting dignitaries and buyers to see Irish made goods. Mary
Right: The shop in Kilkenny in the 1960s.
Dowling used her extensive knowledge of the Irish craft sector to help national and foreign buyers to source Irish products. Many international buyers visited, but she particularly remembers a Japanese delegation taking over the KDW offices while they met suppliers from all over Ireland. The Dublin shop had two other strings to its bow: the Kilkenny restaurant and the exhibition space which hosted design exhibitions. Mary Dowling had started as the internal catering manager in Kilkenny before moving into the retail area and was responsible for the excellent standards that prevailed in the staff canteen and were later brought to Dublin. Her approach to food was based on simplicity and local produce long before they became fashionable: “It was traditional, made modern. We tried to keep a home influence and used traditional recipes. We were often asked for those recipes and always gave them out freely.” She particularly remembers Kilkenny’s oatmeal biscuits and pea and mint soup. Salads were served in pottery bowls as a promotional device for the potters who often went on to supply other restaurants. The restaurant was important as a way of bringing people into the shop and creating a lively atmosphere. Exhibitions were staged every four to six weeks and were often used to launch new designers or craftspeople who were supplying the shop. KDW or international exhibitions such as ‘The Bowl’, ‘Workmanship’ and ‘Danish Design’ were also hosted in the exhibition space. Each opening was an important event and these regular exhibitions contributed to the feeling that exciting things were happening in Kilkenny. KDW benefited from the excellent relationships the Dublin shop developed with journalists, generating abundant press coverage. Visiting VIPs tended to come to the shop, creating regular photo opportunities and enabling Kilkenny Design to maintain a relatively high profile. Peter Ustinov was an enthusiastic supporter and declared that, on trips to
Above left: Mary Dowling at the Plus Workshops, Frederikstad, Norway, c 1966, with their founder, Per Tannum. Left: The restaurant in the Dublin shop.
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