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Orla: Well, I always say that Ireland – and I think it's true – is where I got my sense of colour. Summertimes, if the sun was threatening to come out, we'd all jump into the car and drive to Brittas Bay. Then, we'd end up there all hunched around a wind breaker with our cagoules on. Orla: Yes and William Morris' Arts and Crafts and, then, you're right the Bloomsbury Group and the philosophies behind it all, investments that last. She then worked in New York and London as a textiles and print designer before gaining her Master's Degree at the Royal College of Art in London in 1993. Harrods acquired her collection of hats from her graduation show and four years later she and her husband, Dermott Rowan, founded the Orla Kiely Partnership. Shevaun: It's fascinating that your very Irish name travels so well here in Britain and internationally.
Orla: Oh, I know exactly where you are, yes, Rathmichael. We lived on Corbawn Lane, the road heading towards the sea, the other side of Shankill. My parents are still there. We lived on this little cul-de-sac with 1940s houses. We had such an amazing road, all the families had kids the same age, it was so safe, we had so much fun. We got up in the morning, we ran outside and we played out all day. Orla: Absolutely. The sea was four minutes walking, Shankill Beach is right in the middle between Killiney and Bray. Orla: Exactly. And if you wanted a few amusements and ice-creams, Bray. It was lovely, it was a great childhood. She presents her ready-to-wear and accessories collection every season at London Fashion Week. Her label includes a complete ready-to-wear collection, travel, homeware, stationery and even a collaboration with Citroën.
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Shevaun: The Orla Kiely brand is also very distinctive, I imagine, if the Bloomsbury Set were still around they'd love your designs. Orla: Our oldest son has just done his degree in Politics and History up in Manchester and specialised in Modern Irish History, he was over at the De Valera Archive at UCD. He's very interested in his Irish roots, and our other son is arty. Orla: I left Dublin to get experience; there were very few opportunities for a textiles designer in Ireland. I had a year working in New York in a very practical design studio. I spent a lot of time mixing colours to absolute perfection. I learned how to build and make colours, how to affect the tones, how to make a colour chalky or clean or dirty, the subtleties of colour. So that was a really important time. Orla lives in South London with her husband Dermott, their labradoodle, Olive and westiepoo, Ivy. They have two sons, Robert, 22 and Hamish, 20. Extract from Orla Kiely in conversation with Shevaun Wilder
The mid-century modern aesthetic that inspires her distinctive designs is instantly recognisable and, along with her striking graphic interpretations of nature, attracts fashionistas like Alexa Chung, Kirsten Dunst, Scarlett Johansson, Keira Knightley and the Duchess of Cambridge. She also acts as a Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Art and is a trustee for the Graduate Bursary Fund for fashion students. Shevaun: I wonder if one of the subtle influences you brought from your Irish convent school education to your clothes designs here was the contemplative, the demure, the serene... Orla: I think because in the creative world it's different – by going to college and working here and being part of the fashion and textile community, I've always felt very settled here in a way. I see quite a bit of the Irish in London through the Embassy and various things like that, it's lovely. I love London. London's been very good to me.Orla: We met when I was seventeen or eighteen. We both went off and did our thing. Then we just met up in London, however many years later, and we still liked each other, so it was quite nice.
Shevaun: What about Heals, Eames, Jacobson and Eileen Gray's modernist period, were they influences? Orla: Oh, my goodness, in the 70s I was making outfits, I made pink corduroy jeans! I made my sister her Confirmation outfit – which in retrospect was terrible – with enjoying it so much, I thought I wanted to do fashion. Then, when I got to art college, I discovered graphic design and textile design, it was like, 'Oh, my God, I never knew half of this existed.' So I got into drawing in a much more designery way. Orla: That's a nice way to think about it. I think we're a creative brand, I feel like we're following a very personal style, it's working with what I love, it's got integrity, it's me, I'm not trying to be anything other than myself. I love graphic design so everything I do has that nod to graphic designers from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Shevaun: Some of your dress designs also put me in mind of Bette Davis. Was film an influence when you were growing up? Orla Kiely, an internationally celebrated, London-based, Irish designer known for her unique retro graphic prints, was born in Shankill, County Dublin, and educated at the Loreto Convent. She graduated in print and textile design from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin in 1982.
Shevaun: The nostalgia built into that is fantastic and it comes out in your furnishings and homewares as well as in your print designs. Shevaun: And, of course, you had the sea and the mountains nearby, part of the joy of living in County Dublin?
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