‘Fashion shows are coming back’
Hilary Thompson marks milestone birthday with model website launch
Covid left a lot of people at a crossroads. Many life courses were dramatically altered as the pandemic gave people pause for thought on where they wanted to go.
For leading model agent Hilary Thompson, it presented the biggest challenge she has seen in her career of more than 35 years. She lost 14 shows in the space of a week, though she did manage to run a covid-compliant fashion show at Villiers School in Limerick, where she has been working with the Transition Years for the last 35 years. On the eve of her 70th birthday, Hilary found herself contemplating the end of her long and illustrious time at the forefront of Ireland's fashion industry.
It was but a fleeting thought for Hilary, who arrived at the conclusion that retirement was “out of the question”.
“Instead of winding down the agency, I decided to wind it up,” she said, outlining how she used the lockdown time to create and launch a new website in promotion of her wide-ranging modelling services.
“The reason I launched it is that while I'd just turned a major birthday - 70 - I wasn't ready to hang up my boots yet! I decided I had a lot more work and years in me, because this is part of my DNA. I love it. I'm doing it so long and I love the buzz.”
LOCAL CONNECTIONS
Living in Ballina-Killaloe, Hilary was initially reluctant to leave her native Limerick, but she very much regards the Shannonside setting as home now. “I like the peace there and the people there are friendly. And when you've had a busy week, you go back to Ballina and you feel as if you're on holidays!”
Hilary has a deep affinity with north Tipperary. Her first ever fashion show was at the Ormond Hotel in Nenagh in 1983. She ran it in promotion of JR Fashions, formerly of Kenyon St, for the opening of JR's north Tipp brand.
The gig came about “by mistake rather than by design”, according to Hilary, who had been travelling in Europe having studied languages at college in Dublin. She lived in Switzerland in her 20s and was very much influenced by European fashion and style.
But Hilary came from a family of architects and seemed destined for a career in interior design, though she was always interested in modelling and had previously featured in a TV ad - shot at Knappogue Castle, Co Clare - for Schweppes Tonic when she was 16. She also featured in ads for Knorr soups, Butcher Boy sausages and Harp lager, to name but a few.
Hilary was working at the Granary restaurant in Limerick when she had a chance meeting with Jerry Relihan and the late Gretta Coughlan from GrettaGibbs. She mentioned her interest in fashion and they offered her a show in Nenagh, saying they'd give her 10 weeks to put it together.
“And the rest is history!” Hilary laughed, looking back. Her fledgling agency grew from strength to strength after that first Nenagh event and she went on to run fashion shows up and down the country, becoming over the years since the respected name in Irish fashion that she is today.
MODEL TEAM
Hilary's new website is a doorway into the world of modelling experience that she has built over the last 35-40 years. It introduces visitors to the team of around 30 models - male and female, sizes 8 to 18 - that she is working with for the 2022 / '23 season.
“I have a very good team of models,” Hilary said. “Some of them have been with me for quite some time, which says a lot. There is lot of planning involved in the backstage management and running of a fashion show, so we have to work well together and respect one another as a team. My father always said: ‘Treat people with the respect you'd like to be treated with yourself’, and that has become my mantra as well,” Hilary said.
“I also have new models - up and coming talent from Limerick, Thurles, Nenagh and around Munster. I like working with the age group of 14, 15, 16, because I get on very well with young people.”
The 2013 Most Stylish Woman in Munster (Hi Style award) is hoping to run modelling diploma courses for teenagers at the Lakeside Hotel in Ballina this autumn.
“It gives girls of that age confidence,” Hilary commented on the virtues of modelling, though she encouraged all aspiring young models to be pragmatic in their expectations.
“I have girls that want to start at 14/15. These days girls are quite mature, but my advice to any teenagers is that modelling isn't the be all and end all.
“What I do advocate to anyone who's doing modelling is don't forget your day job; do your study and get your qualifications. Modelling is really only a sideline for a lot of people.
“And don't let anyone think modelling is easy - it's hard work. There's an awful lot of planning and an awful lot of backstage work.
“But I have a very good team behind me. That helps me big time because I could never manage everything on my own. We all help each other.”
THE FASHION SHOW COMEBACK
The pandemic proved disastrous for everyone in Hilary's line of work. But, much aligned with her own personal resurgence, she said people can look forward to fashion shows returning re-energised and re-imagined now that those involved have had time to consider their merits.
“Covid changed a lot of things,” Hilary reflected. “It changed people's mindset.
“But it also made me think: ‘Well, OK, you've just got to get through it and whatever happens, happens’. The future is not in anyone's hands. It's up to ourselves to try and make our future, even if it's not in our control.
“I think that a lot of dresses, when they're on hangers, they're beautiful but when you see them being modelled, they take on a life of their own. I think that's a good idea, and I think fashion shows are coming back.”
EVENT PRODUCTION
The Hilary Thompson Model Agency prides itself on having a stellar reputation in organising events for any company or committee that approaches it. As well as running training courses, Hilary and her team facilitate fashion shows and wedding fairs for shop owners, who can also have Hilary's professional models attend their premises for in-store promotion of wares. The agency holds regular shows for the Munster Heart Foundation, Mid West Cancer Care, and an annual TY fashion show for Villiers school in Limerick.
Events looked after by the agency include those arranged by charities, schools, sports clubs, hotels, shopping centres, corporate events and individual boutiques hosting in-store fashion shows.
If you are organising a fashion show, there are a few questions that need to be asked; for example, what type of show best suits your needs, what time of year and how best to engage with the media. When engaging the Hilary Thompson Modelling Agency, Hilary and her team will provide your organisation with full support and regular meetings in the lead-up to the event to ensure it runs smoothly and professionally.
Hilary will liaise directly with local media and will provide advice on how to promote your event online. She will also arrange a press reception in the lead-up to the event, attended by a selection of models wearing clothes from some of the shops taking part in the show.
In relation to the show itself, Hilary and her team will set up the whole production, including music, lighting, compère and backstage management.