Irish designer Paul Costelloe, who presented collections at London Fashion Week for over 35 years, has died aged 80.
One of the most established and best known names in Irish and British fashion, he died last night in London.
In a statement, his family said they are "deeply saddened to announce the passing of Paul Costelloe following a short illness".
It went on: "He was surrounded by his wife and seven children and passed peacefully in London."
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His family asked for privacy at this time.
Paul Costelloe's career began at Grafton Academy of Fashion Design, before he moved to the fashion capitals of Milan, Paris and New York and later, London.
He set up his own label in 1979, Paul Costelloe Collections.
In 1983 he was appointed personal designer to Diana, the Princess of Wales, a collaboration which continued until her death in 1997.
Paul Costelloe was no stranger to controversy; in 1998 he criticised Irish women when he said they lacked style.
"Irish women have difficulty with style because it's not in their inner nature... like the Italians," he said.
But speaking to RTÉ this year, he said his views had changed and that he felt Ireland was now more European than years ago.
"We have probably become nearly too confident now," he told the Insights with Sean O'Rourke podcast in April this year.
He added that "Irish women are very cool, and they've got a good sense of humour which I hope they never lose".
His first London Fashion Week was in 1984, and 40 years later he described his sense of design as "still curious".
"I'm still looking at options and different ways of approaching the industry, and I still think I'm a fairly good designer… and luckily, it comes from me. I have a system that I still do," he said.
Paul Costelloe consistently gave a nod to his Irish heritage, using traditional fabrics and textiles, with Irish Linen and tweed often key staples in his pieces.
For the past 20 years, he collaborated with Dunnes Stores on a highly successful line of fashion and homewear.
Paul Costelloe was the clothing designer for the inaugural Ireland Fashion Week in October.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was "very saddened to hear of the passing of Paul Costelloe".
"An icon of design, Paul elevated Irish fashion to the global stage," he said.
"Deepest sympathies to his wife Anne and their family."
'Rich and diverse legacy'
Fashion and lifestyle writer Bairbre Power knew Paul Costello for many years and said she met him in September when he told her he was suffering from Leukemia.
"He was fighting it very bravely."
Ms Power said the fashion designer will be very much missed and she remembered what she described as Paul Costello's "rich and diverse legacy".
"He did everything from dressing Princess Diana back in the eighties, to dressing Irish girls making their Holy Communion."
He dressed Vogue Williams for her wedding and a number of celebrities for red carpet events.
Ms Power interviewed Paul Costello a number of times and considered him and his family as friends.
She said there was a passion for all things Irish in everything he did and that he always tried to bring Irish companies along with him.
"He would come back from London and buy linen in weavers in Wexford, tweed in Donegal and then imprint it with celtic prints."
She said the British Fashion Council relied on Paul Costello to open London Fashion week because he could "create the drama with his silhouettes, with his colour".
Ms Power said his collections and his artwork were inspired by family time and by holidays in Italy with his wife, Anne.
"He was all about his wife, his six sons and his daughter Jessica.. and his proudest moment was designing her wedding dress a few years ago."
Ms Power said he was successful because he listened to what people wanted to wear and he wanted to create clothes for real people.
He dressed people across many walks of life from Aer Lingus, the Irish Olympic team, to the Ryder Cup wives; "they all wore Paul Costello".
She said his legacy was his love of heritage fabrics and described how eventhough Irish linen was something people put on tables, Paul Costello used it to dress Princess Diana.
"Back in 1988 when he designed a yellow linen dress for Princess Diana that she wore on Bondi Beach, it got so much publicity."
She said Paul Costello incorporated sustainable fabrics into his designs long before people spoke about sustainability. She said his legacy for the Irish fashion students of today should be the beauty of Irish fabrics and how he used them in his "exquisite tailoring".
'A great ambassador for Irish fashion'
Chairperson of the Council of Irish Fashion Designers said the death of Paul Costello means "we have lost a great ambassador for Irish fashion".
Eddie Shanahan worked alongside Costello in London, managing five of his fashion shows.
"They could be slightly chaotic in the beginning but at the heart of every good fashion show is a good collection and Paul was particulary good at collection development and editing it."
Mr Shanahan said Paul Costello lasted in one of the most difficult businesses on earth for 35 years and twice as many seasons and that he always put style over fadish fashion.
"Paul is a great example to young fashion designers in terms of how he could combine very good design with strong commericial collections," he said.
