Ireland: Emigrating to America

Irish whisky was on the rocks and Irish accents were in the air last week as a Manhattan department store kicked off a merchandising maneuver that had all the government brass and economic implications of a trade treaty. Ireland’s Minister for Industry and Commerce John Lynch was on hand, and so were officials from the Irish Export Board. Ambassadors, industrialists and such shamrock-struck Americans as James A. Farley milled through a series of receptions, dinners, cocktail parties and pretty speeches. It was hard to believe that crass commercial enterprise was involved. But it was—to an extent that could nudge Ireland into the forefront of fashion and vastly help its already expanding economy (TIME, July 12).

It all began when Lord & Taylor President Melvin E. Dawley made a three-hour visit to Ireland last year and was, as he put it, “bewitched.” Dawley decided on the spot that he wanted “more than anything in the world to bring Ireland—the beautiful, inspired, elegant, romantic Ireland—to America.” Lord & Taylor sent out two advance scouts with cameras and expense accounts to see what the Emerald Isle had to offer. Wave after wave followed —two vice presidents, two merchandise managers, 26 buyers, display men, art directors, photographers, fashion editors. Eleven months, 48 transatlantic crossings, and more than $1,000,000 later, Lord & Taylor has assembled enough Eireana to stun St. Patrick.

Most important of all are the fabrics: tweeds and wools in soft, imaginative blends of pink, red, orange—most of them made up to U.S. specifications in cleanly styled suits and sportswear by Irish Designers Sybil Connolly, Kay Peterson, Sheila Mullally, Clodagh, Jack Clarke and Donald Davies. The rarest cloth in the lot is the 55 yards of tweed from the black sheep of Lord Dunraven of Adare (more will have to wait for next year’s shearing). There are also brilliantly beautiful Donegal rugs and carpets in hand-knotted modern and traditional designs, chandeliers of Waterford glass, and 40 paintings by contemporary Irish painters. There is a profusion of Irish linen, of course, and Georgian antiques and contemporary pottery. The store has even inspired the Irish to turn out a stunning new line of children’s clothes.

The title of Lord & Taylor’s promotion is “The Pride of Ireland.” If this vanguard of Irish products catches on in the U.S.—where Ireland already sends a respectable but unambitious amount of her exports—there is no telling where it all may end.