For emergent Irish designers and independent boutiques, it is a nascent marketplace where buyer meets seller in only the second occasion of its kind.

"It's a great chance in terms of being able to meet new customers, " said Olga Maguire of Armadilo, which she founded four years ago selling designer T-shirts but has expanded into a full line of evening wear, having earned some national attention as a result.

Maguire was sharing a hotel room-cumexhibition space in Dublin's Fitzwilliam Hotel with Margaret O'Rourke of jewellry house MoMuse.

"There's more people this year, and it's better to get the designers before the big shows" in Paris and London later this autumn, said O'Rourke.

Having more established designers participating, like Joanne Hynes, was also a big bonus as it helped draw potential customers, added Maguire.

Limerick-born Hynes, who will show her collection in Paris this year, has her work regularly featured in RTE's Off the Rails and earlier this year was named Brown Thomas designer of the season.

"There are a lot of new boutiques this year, " said Hynes.

Sonia Reynolds, who organised the event, said that sales were near 1.5m this year, a 50% increase on the previous show, in October 2005. There was also a 40% increase in buyers, she said.

"Dublin Fashion Week is gaining momentum, " said Reynolds. "Having 3 and Brown Thomas as sponsors this year is a big boost."

"It's a great salon show, a forum for Irish designers, helping create awareness of their work."

Dublin will never go head-to-head with New York, Milan, Paris or London, she said, but the intimate and relaxed atmosphere and size of Dublin would make it compeitive with Amsterdam or Copenhagen, she said.

And that smaller size could be a competitive advantage in some ways.

"When you've got 1,800 to 2,000 exhibitions to see with a limited amount of time - as you would in Paris - it's harder for smaller designers to get noticed."

Reynolds is hoping for bigger and better things next year.

Fashion, particularly the couture end of the market, is unlikely to be as transformed as a retail phenomenon by the internet - but after Dublin Fashion Week ends, most of the designers who found new customers will be keeping in touch online.

Websites for designers are an essential tool for letting the punters know where the wares are stocked, as in www. armadilo. ie for Olga Maguire or www. momuse. ie for Margaret O'Rourke. And Joanne Hynes would take new orders primarily by email, she said.

"But it's not like this will be sold directly through a website. You're not selling a cold product. This is one to one."