Meet the team behind THE GLOSS September fashion shoot, including model Pamela Brangan and her daughter Keelin Walshe, Brooklynites in Brooklyn Heights and find out about their life in New York …
Irish model Pamela Brangan (from Co Wicklow) and her husband St John first lived in New York for five years in the mid-1990s, when she was represented by Ford Models. Modelling for brands like Bottega Veneta, Tommy Hilfiger and Armani, as well as walking in shows in Milan and Paris for Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni and Jean Paul Gautier, Pamela loved the frenetic fashion world. The couple loved NYC too, and had “an absolute ball living the ‘work hard, play hard’ dream”, as Pamela explains, but when the opportunity came to move back to Ireland (St John was working in London), they decided to take it. Pamela was able to continue her modelling career after having Keelin, now a student at Trinity College Dublin, and Kester, who is still in high school, with childcare help from her parents. “Models used to retire in their mid-20s so I feel very grateful to be working at a time that celebrates fashion for all ages,” she says.
New York called them back in May 2019. “Luckily the children settled quickly into their new school and we reconnected with old friends and made some new ones pretty quickly,” explains Pamela. “It was a different experience moving with the family than when it was just the two of us straight out of college, subletting a studio in the West Village!”
“There is a great community feel, and loads of cool places – and people – to check out.”
Pamela got her MSc in Real Estate from TUD before the family headed back across the Atlantic. As soon as her working visa came through, she promptly completed her Real Estate License and joined Compass, where she works in the luxury brownstone and condo market. She is based in a Brooklyn Heights office but sells properties all over the city. “It’s quite a social job – the broker parties in reality are very professional events where everyone talks shop while looking glamorous, but hemlines are more business-appropriate than those we see on some of the TV shows. The New York real estate market is competitive but generally agents want things to run smoothly – the less drama the better!”
Pamela loves living in Brooklyn (she opened the doors to her brownstone for the shoot) for its cobbled streets and iconic Manhattan skyline views. At the weekend, you’ll find her browsing favourite boutiques such as Tango and The Real Real. “Keelin and I love going shopping together – though admittedly, she also ‘shops’ from my wardrobe, regularly borrowing my clothes.” For homewares, Brangan likes Painted Swan, a small boutique in Carroll Gardens, while for food shopping, she’s a regular at Sahadi’s, a Middle Eastern grocery store on Atlantic Avenue, and the farmers’ market at Borough Hall.
“My Saturday morning ritual is reading THE GLOSS (my subscription arrives in the mail each month) with a coffee and almond croissant from L’Appartement 4F, our super-popular local French bakery.” It’s just one example of the area’s “amazing restaurants and cute independent stores”, says Pamela. “The pace is a little slower in Brooklyn than Manhattan, but we are still just one subway stop from the city. There is a great community feel, and loads of cool places – and people – to check out.”
Pamela Brangan in Brooklyn. @akapambrangan.
THE GLOSS New York Fashion Editor Luis Rodriguez. @luisthestylist.
Make-up artist Moiz Alladina. @moizalladina.
Fittings in Pamela’s kitchen.
The Marie Robinson salon, a Pamela favourite.
