| What do Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Norah Jones and Sarah Ferguson have in common? For the red carpet, they all favoured dresses by the occasion-dress label, Theia. The designer behind Theia is Kerry-born, New York-based designer Don O\'Neill.
What I have learnt about Don O\'Neill is that not only is he a deceptively good designer for women, but he is also passionate about Ireland, and supporting young talent. When people speak of Don, they say, "he\'s such a nice guy" and it\'s true. The fact that he is all about making a woman look beautiful, explains why he is fast becoming so popular with the celebrity set.
"When a woman wears a dress that makes her feel wonderful, an inner glow becomes apparent," Don tells me. "For me, it is not about it being my dress. It is important for her to feel like a goddess, and that beautiful inner light that comes on when she is happy. That is what it is all about."
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Over the years, Don noticed that Theia occasion dresses were being bought by women to wear for their wedding. Theia bridal was born after one season in particular, when all his buyers asked him to make one style in white satin.
"That was how that whole idea started. From that one dress," Don laughs. "We started out in our living room here, in my home, with individual appointments. We did it like a private couture showing. As time went on, it evolved and got bigger and bigger, and before we knew it, we were doing a proper full runway show."
Theia bridal collection is shown during the New York Bridal Fashion Week and is sold around the world. Here, it is solely available from Folkster, in Dublin. The collection on our pages is for next autumn, which is ordered by brides now.
When Don says \'we\', that means not only his design and production team, but also his life partner, Pascal Guillermie, who has been at Don\'s side since his early days in Paris. Don worked for Christian Lacroix (he of Ab Fab\'s line: "It\'s Lacroix, dahling"). Lacroix was fashion royalty in the 1980s and 1990s and Don adored him.
"It is because of Mr Lacroix that I am in New York today," he says. "They were giving away visas and I applied for one and got it. I didn\'t know what to do and Mr Lacroix asked a fortune-teller about me and he said I had to go. So I did."
Theia bridal is a romantic, yet utterly contemporary bridal collection. Luxurious fabrics and details, textures and embellishment, feature subtly in Theia\'s beautifully simple silhouette.
"My time at Lacroix would have influenced my notions of beading and embellishment and couture luxury," Don says. "But always, always, I want women to feel beautiful. To feel like the goddesses they are."
Which is every bride\'s dream.
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