Friday, April 29, 2011

Design Time

Featured: 

 One of my favorite contemporary designers....

Orla Kiely.




Here she is with her dog.  ; )









I love the simplicity of her designs.

Little BIO:


Orla credits her grandmother with being the creative influence in her life. Her father was an accountant while her mother studied science before giving up work to have a family.[1]
Kiely qualified as a textile designer from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and moved to New York to work for a wallpaper and fabric designer.[2] She moved to England to work for Esprit, while undertaking a Masters at the Royal College of Art in London,[3] primarily in knitwear.[2] She displayed a range of hats in her exit show at the RCA, which were purchased by Harrods. She did design work for Marks & Spencer and Habitat.[3]
She moved into handbags after her father noted during her first London Fashion Week that everyone was carrying a handbag, but no one was wearing a hat.[4] In the late 90s, the idea of laminating cloth for handbags came to her, "At the time, no one was doing anything like it. Laminated fabric, in those days, meant tablecloths."[2]
Together with her husband, Dermott Rowan, she formed The Orla Kiely Partnership in 1997. Her husband explained in an interview, "Nothing was planned, the whole thing started by accident. Orla was consulting for other companies and designing her own collection at the weekend, which she would give to me to organise. We had this chaotic situation where deliveries of her designs would come into our apartment and if I didn't get them out by 5pm, there was nowhere to sit!"[3] Orla Kiely showed in London Fashion Week and secured her first export orders. The following year, they took the collection to Premiere Class.[5]
She was featured on a stamp issued by the Republic of Ireland in July 2010, along with fellow designers Philip TreacyJohn Rocha and Paul Costelloe. It is an 82c stamp, showing her name in large orange letters at the top along with an image of a handbag with her leaf design against a white background.[6] Her fashion line has been seen on actresses such as Kirsten Dunst.[3]
She has been awarded the title of Visiting Professor of Textiles at the Royal College of Art.[7]

(Thank you Wikipedia)......)

She is pricey, and I have never stumbled upon one of her designs while thrifting.  It is unfortunate.  ; )

Just diggin' her style....

A little jaunt into her Flagship Store.




Orla, I hope to discover one of your treasures some day soon!!!!

Happy Friday and a Splendid Weekend to ya!!!
xoxoox dd

3 comments:

  1. I loved how you research designers. I would never have thought to do that. I enjoy your finds and I look everyday at simple virtues!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Downey! I tried to look at your blog, and there isn't one! I appreciate your following me! ; )
      xo d

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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Love to hear from you, little cutie-kins!

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