Una Mullally's Lost In A Launch - A case of clothes encounters of the launch kind

Mary McCarthy and Paul Howard at the Irish Book Awards. Sebastian Barry triumphed at the ceremony in Dublin's Mansion House. Talking point - Joseph O' Neill's 'Netherland' losing out yet again on a big award

Amanda Azams and Alan Amsby at the Absolut Dublin Gay Theatre Festival launch. Theatre lovers downed cocktails and perused programme in Front Lounge. Talking point - Absolut's continued sponsorship onvolvement in Dublin's gay community - this is the first time the festival has had a major sponsor.

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There are just a few things that people care about in summer launch season – that it's sunny enough to drink outside bars on the street (one presumes that Michael McDowell is doing a celebratory jig in his political grave now that this is the raison d'être of being in Dublin on a Thursday evening); what pointless new brand of pear cider to drink while sitting outside bars on the street; and what to wear while doing it.

The summer launch wardrobe is a sort of anything-goes affair, but one needs plenty of outfits, so it's not unusual that clothes feature heavily in the current launch calendar. Farrell & Brown had its 1st birthday party recently, no doubt in an attempt to remind the public that it is still relevant before American Apparel opens up in the neighbourhood, turning every Trinity student into a shiny, spandex, leggings, and batwing hoodie-wearing advertisement for what is probably the best (affordable) youth brand in the world. The hoarding is up on the American Apparel location, in the Permanent TSB building opposite Trinity College, for which AA will fork out an annual rent of €800,000. That's a lot of lycra headbands.

As well as advertising online for staff and hosting an open call-back in March, AA scouted for hot hoodie-folders in clubs around Dublin. The store will apparently open this month, after the date was put back from April due to planning permission issues. Lost In A Launch awaits with bated, unisex, breath.

Speaking of clothes, Arnotts launched its colossal new store in the Jervis Centre on Friday. Ladyhawke was in town to play the Trinity Ball and headlined the event, alongside the omnipresent launch band Dirty Epics. Arnotts Project aims to be to Arnotts what BT2 is to Brown Thomas. The launch was orchestrated by new kids on the block Blink PR, who seem to be ruffling feathers on the launch scene, having moved swiftly from organising small events with Gallery Number One to much bigger occasions. In other clothes news, Gap opened 10 years too late in Dundrum Town Centre last week.

From clothes to culture, last Thursday was jam-packed with art and theatre launches across Dublin city. We hit up the Barely Legal art exhibition in the new Mill Street Studios in Dublin 8 to get our artistic hit. It was the first exhibition in the building, which boasts a large gallery space, and several studios upstairs. The opening was pretty fun, thanks to the 42 young artists who were exhibiting. American Apparel certainly missed a staff scouting binge there; endless La Roux haircuts and interesting jeans.

Down the road in Parliament Street, the Front Lounge was packed to the rafters for the launch of the Absolut Dublin Gay Theatre Festival (might have had something to do with Absolut's free cocktails.)

It's the sixth year for the festival which runs until 17 May – go to gaytheatre.ie to pour over the programme and book tickets. We checked out Independent Youth Theatre's Killed By Curriculum on the opening night of the festival in the Teacher's Club, which was written by 19-year-old Shaun Dunne, the youngest ever playwright to have a piece in the festival.

We bumped into Shaun a couple of days later on Wednesday in Pantibar on Capel Street at the campaign fundraiser for Lisa Connell who is running as an independent LGBT candidate in the upcoming local elections. Kids these days, eh? So motivated.