Your week ahead: Irish food, learning, networking
🍀 Irish buffet — Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with foods like soda bread and corned beef at 5:30pm today at Mount Sequoyah in Fayetteville. Get tickets for $37. Tickets for kids ages 5-12 are $19, and kids under 5 eat for free.
🗣 Marshallese Women's Conference — Hear presentations from speakers, including Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine. 9am-3pm Wednesday and 9am-4pm Thursday at The Jones Center in Springdale.
🤝 Patio Social — Have a drink and meet some new folks at this monthly meetup at various patios in NWA. 6-9pm Tuesday at The HUB Bike Lounge in Bentonville.
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Elle
2 hours ago
- Elle
These Female Designers Are Creating the Clothes Women Actually Want
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. One of Maria McManus's customers—a 'fabulous L.A. woman,' as the Irish-bred, New York-based designer describes her—recently confided to her that she has two dry cleaners: one whom she entrusts with her Maria McManus clothes, and one for the rest of her wardrobe. 'I'm sure she owns incredible brands,' McManus says. 'So I was deeply honored that I was part of the chosen few.' That kind of loyalty can't be bought, no matter how many marketing dollars you throw at it. McManus is one of a handful of designers who might not have their names on billboards, but who have painstakingly built a following, becoming a hit with discerning shoppers who prefer realism to runway theatrics. Many of these brands are led, or co-led, by women: Elin Kling of Toteme, Camille Perry and Holly Wright of Tove, Marieke Meulendijks of Róhe, and Frances Howie of Fforme, for example. They lean minimalist, but with enough design innovation to create desirable friction. And they're modular in nature: Rather than overhauling their aesthetic every season, they keep gradual wardrobe-building in mind, offering new pieces that complement their existing staples. For Howie, what she sees on the catwalk doesn't always reflect the reality of contemporary women's lives. 'If you think about how much change has happened in the last 80 years, the way that women work and juggle a million things, I think we demand something more from our wardrobes,' she says. Howie took over at the brand last July and debuted with a fall 2025 collection that actually achieved the editorial trope of 'going from day to night.' For pre-spring 2026, she introduced looks like a white two-piece set in frayed silk. 'You could pick up your child from school and look rather fabulous, or you could go to a wedding' in it, she says. Another multitasking hero piece, a red trench with a pleated back detail, goes through a Cinderella-style transformation if you remove its bolero, turning it into a sleeveless dress. Howie remains mindful not just of what her designs look like, but what they feel like, something Alber Elbaz inculcated in her when she worked for him at Lanvin. She recalls that Elbaz held model fittings in front of a wall of mirrors to see how a dress would look and move in real life. 'He didn't really fit the dress. He fitted her in the dress. There's a difference.' Now her team prioritizes comfort: 'I don't want to look amazing, and actually be suffering. That's not luxurious to me.' As Net-a-Porter's fashion director, Kay Barron applies her discerning eye to thousands of new offerings. Like Howie, she has noticed a disconnect when it comes to some collections. 'I see their runway shows and the vision that they've created, and I do think, 'God, I'd love to have that life. How fabulous does that look?'' she admits. But when it comes to lines like Toteme, Fforme, Tove, Maria McManus, and St. Agni, all of which the e-retailer has seen great success with, she appreciates that they're rooted in something more solid. 'Not the fantasy lives we want to have, but the reality, whether that's work and motherhood and everything else that's going on in someone's life. You still want to look and feel your best.' She also appreciates that they're not 'outrageously expensive' relative to the rest of the luxury market. For Lara Fells, who designs St. Agni with a small team, her own day-to-day life in the Australian beachside hamlet of Byron Bay helps inform her work. When she cofounded the brand with her husband over a decade ago, 'everything was very overembellished. It was the height of the boho era.' Fells had a counterproposal: pared-back, often neutral-hued staple pieces like structured blazers and trousers, things that you could wear to the office and to sip a cocktail afterward. Fells refreshingly admits to being inspired by her own taste. 'I feel like it takes a really talented designer to design something that she doesn't want to wear,' she says. 'I can't do that. That's an extra-special skill.' For many of these designers, much of their success comes down to the throwback power of word of mouth. In the first five years of her business, Fells says, 'we did no paid marketing at all. Didn't spend a dollar on ads, nothing,' instead preferring to build a following organically. Another old-school method has come in handy for McManus, who doesn't have a brick-and-mortar store: 'We do a lot of private shopping events at people's homes. Customers will reach out to us and be like, 'My girlfriends love your stuff. Can we do an event?'' Tapping into that inner circle has opened them up to an often-overlooked client, the woman who loves fashion and wants to invest in it, but doesn't care to follow the herd. As Howie puts it: 'My girlfriends who are intelligent, well-read, cultured, love art—they want to feel sexy. They want to feel sensual. They want to feel that in a powerful way.' This story appears in the September 2025 issue of ELLE. GET THE LATEST ISSUE OF ELLE
New York Post
19 hours ago
- New York Post
NYC designer Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra's tragic death on Montauk boat eyed as suspected accidental drug overdose: sources
The death of Manhattan swimwear designer Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra at the upscale Montauk Yacht Club is being eyed as a possible accidental overdose, sources said Tuesday. The 33-year-old Irish beauty was found unconscious at the ritzy club on Aug. 5 aboard a boat named 'Ripple' – one of at least two Grateful Dead-themed crafts owned by insurance mogul Christopher Durnan, sources tell The Post. An autopsy is pending to determine Nolan-O'Slatarra's official cause of death – although sources said it was a suspected drug overdose. Advertisement Authorities now believe NYC designer Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra's death may be tied to an accidental drug overdose. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post Suffolk County cops have not filed charges or identified any suspects in the case. Nolan-O'Slatarra was found on the boat around midnight after club members heard screams, called 911 and then tried to resuscitate the designer – who was later pronounced dead. Advertisement Durnan, 60, a familiar figure at the club, owns the Durnan Group in Rockville Center, which manages the 'largest, most successful Workers Compensation Safety Group for Real Estate' on the company's website. Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra was found unresponsive on a Montauk boat, where she was soon after pronounced dead. Instagram/@marthanolan He owns 'Ripple' and a second boat, 'Hell in a Bucket,' which was docked alongside and is also a shout-out to the Grateful Dead, several club members confirmed. Nolan-O'Slatarra, a native of the tiny Irish town of Carlow, migrated to the US, where she started as a bottle service girl in SoHo before co-founding East x East, a swimwear label. Advertisement She summered in the Hamptons, where she hosted successful pop-up shows and fashion exhibits for wealthy clientele in Montauk and the surrounding area. — Additional reporting by Brandon Cruz and Joe Marino
Yahoo
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- Yahoo
U2 Says Conflict in Gaza Has Reached ‘Uncharted Territory': ‘We Are Not Experts' but ‘We Want Our Audience to Know Where We Stand'
Irish band U2 has released a statement on Israel and Gaza, saying that the conflict has now reached 'uncharted territory.' In a joint message posted on U2's website and social media on Sunday, the band wrote: 'Everyone has long been horrified by what is unfolding in Gaza — but the blocking of humanitarian aid and now plans for a military takeover of Gaza City has taken the conflict into uncharted territory. We are not experts in the politics of the region, but we want our audience to know where we each stand.' More from Variety Kamal Aljafari's Locarno Competition Opener 'With Hasan in Gaza' Rediscovers Lost Existence of Land and People Gaza Documentary 'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk' Acquired by Kino Lorber for North America (EXCLUSIVE) Personal Stories From Gaza Screen at Amman Festival Via Rashid Masharawi's Bold Film Initiative, From Ground Zero Each member of the iconic band — Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. — then penned their own individual statements expressing complex emotions about the long-running conflict in the Middle East. In addition, the band has pledged to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. In his statement, frontman and activist Bono first acknowledged the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people with 251 hostages being taken, writing that 'the rape, murder, and abduction of Israelis at the Nova music festival was evil.' However, he added that as time went on, 'Israel's revenge for the Hamas attack appeared more and more disproportionate and disinterested in the equally innocent civilian lives in Gaza.' According to the United Nations, which cites Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry, over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict as of Aug. 6. On Friday, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government approved a plan to take over Gaza City, the capital of the Gaza Strip, which senior UN officials have warned against. 'When did a just war to defend the country turn into an unjust land grab? I hoped Israel would return to reason. I was making excuses for a people seared and shaped by the experience of Holocaust… who understood the threat of extermination is not simply a fear but a fact… I re-read Hamas' charter of 1988[3]… it's an evil read (Article Seven!),' Bono continued. 'But I also understood that Hamas are not the Palestinian people… a people who have for decades endured and continue to endure marginalization, oppression, occupation, and the systematic stealing of the land that is rightfully theirs. Given our own historic experience of oppression and occupation, it's little wonder so many here in Ireland have campaigned for decades for justice for the Palestinian people.' Bono then slammed Netanyahu, writing: 'The Government of Israel is not the nation of Israel, but the Government of Israel led by Benjamin Netanyahu today deserves our categorical and unequivocal condemnation. There is no justification for the brutality he and his far right government have inflicted on the Palestinian people… in Gaza… in the West Bank. And not just since October 7, well before it too… though the level of depravity and lawlessness we are seeing now feels like uncharted territory.' The Edge addressed his statement to Netanyahu, asking him several questions 'in the hope of engaging the conscience and sanity of the people of Israel.' 'Do you truly believe that such devastation — inflicted so intentionally and relentlessly on a civilian population — can happen without heaping generational shame upon those responsible?' The Edge wrote in part, ending his statement with: 'We know from our own experience in Ireland that peace is not made through dominance. Peace is made when people sit down with their opponents — when they recognize the equal dignity of all, even those they once feared or despised.' Bassist Clayton said, 'If Israel moves to colonize the Gaza Strip, it will permanently undo any possibility of lasting peace or solution for hostilities. Forgetting the morality of the situation for a moment, doesn't the technical superiority of Israel's modern army make a boast of its precision targeting of individuals from thousands of miles away? And if so why are the IDF bombarding a civilian population from the skies indiscriminately destroying any bit of shelter and infrastructure? Preserving civilian life is a choice in this war.' Mullen Jr. added that Israel's response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks was 'expected,' as was a 'ground war' and 'aerial bombardment and destruction.' However, the drummer said that what was not expected was 'the indiscriminate decimation of most homes and hospitals in Gaza, with a majority of those killed being women and children' and 'imposing famine.' 'The power to change this obscenity is in the hands of Israel,' he added. 'I undoubtedly support Israel's right to exist and I also believe Palestinians deserve the same right and a state of their own. Silence serves none of us.' Read each member of U2's full statements here. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in August 2025 What's Coming to Netflix in August 2025
