Styled the “Queen of Prints”, Orla Kiely is an Irish designer whose work, thanks to the wonderful prints, is instantly recognisable. Orla Kiely graduated from the Royal College of Art with a Master’s Degree and is now based in London, although her designs and products are sold all over the world.
Orla Kiely bags are a focal point of her collections; she quickly moved into designing handbags following her initial work on hat design. The AW12 collection features a number of Tonal leather bags which will look great paired up with a tweed jacket in these colder months or a tweed skirt.
Her dresses are just as beautiful as her bags and her clothing lines have gained international attention thanks to Kate and Pippa Middleton both choosing the designer for trips out and social engagements. A recent Tweed Vixen blog provided some great fashion tips for keeping warm this autumn and one of the suggestions was knee-high socks. These would look great when paired up with one of the Orla Kiely silk pocket dresses – and this dress features a “hidden hedgehog” print – a pair of boots and a tweed jacket! The perfect outfit for those autumn days when the sun is shining and a gentle breeze that stirs up the falling leaves.
source: orlakiely.com
The collection of items that Orla Kiely’s work features on continues to grow and her 1960s inspired prints can be seen on household items, bedding, gardening equipment, stationary and even a car! The Citroen DS3 featured an Orla Kiely print on the roof, rear tailgate and in the interior of the car. She has also produced a number of Orla Kiely cases for Apple products that combine the brilliant designs of her bags, cute prints and padded protection for Apple devices such as: MacBooks, iPads and iPhones. I love how she has created beautiful products for Apple devices that combine fashion with function.
One of my favourite prints is the Multi-stem print; it’s a clean looking design that features leaf stems in earthy colours on a white background. The print has a classic 1960s inspired feel to it and has been used on bags, household items such as lampshades and has even featured on the back of a London bus.
source: bloodybrill.blogspot.co.uk
The work of Orla Kiely is well worth checking out and her classic-looking clothing items will look beautiful matched up with some tweed.
Guest article from Ben who blogs about fashion and music (often the more experimental and psychedelic side of the music spectrum!). I love writing about great designers and elegant styles.