Who ever thought Hodson Bay and reality TV star Kim Kardashian would be linked in the one sentence. But as the biggest fashion moment of the year played out recently – when a blonde Kim walked the red carpet of the Met Gala in the iconic ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ dress that Marilyn Monroe wore when she serenaded President Kennedy back in 1962 – little did many know that there was a local link to that seismic fashion event.

Martin J Nolan, who is Executive Director of Julien’s Auctions, and a native of Hodson Bay in Kiltoom, was the man who helped to make it happen, having sold the record-breaking dress back at auction back in 2016 for an eye-watering $4.81m. It’s actually in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most expensive dress ever sold at auction, and he believes its worth has hugely increased since it was…