DESIGN:Described as a "quiet force " in the fashion industry, Orla Kiely, with her partner Dermott Rowan, has built a hugely successful global brand in no time at all. Can we expect to find an Orla Kiely shop in Ireland any time soon? asks Cathy O'Clery
'OH! THERE'S ANOTHER man coming out of our shop with one of our bags!" Orla Kiely was obviously delighted by the smart-suited customer who had just emerged from her shop in London's Monmouth Street. The Dublin-born designer and her husband and managing director, Dermott Rowan, were sitting just inside the uber cool Covent Garden Hotel in full view of their handsome flagship store across the way. As we sat by the window, a number of women strolled past with Kiely's easily identifiable bags. A surprising number of men were popping into the store, too, presumably to buy their wives or girlfriends some sort ot gorgeous offering from the Kiely emporium of clothing, accessories and homewares. "Men are not afraid to go into our shop - we have a lot of male customers," Rowan said, in defence of me suggesting otherwise."We have a lot of design credibility with creative types - architects, graphic designers - design-aware people," Kiely added.
We then watched as a parade of customers filed past, one by one. There was the stylish mum, managing kids, pram and her Orla Kiely handbag all at the same time. Then two chic Chinese tourists came out of the shop digging into their shopping bags to compare their purchases. Later, a fashionable office worker passed by, weaving quickly between the tourists, "wearing" her bag, as the current vogue dictates, dangling half way up a hooked arm.
By now, many of us are familiar with Orla Kiely's colourful, retro-style bags, clothing and accessories. Like other home-grown talents, such as Philip Tracey and John Rocha, she has become a distinguished name in the British fashion industry, describing herself as an "Irish designer based in London". But many of us may not be aware of just how enormous the Orla Kiely brand has become.
Though her name is generally recognised, her company's success has somehow remained under the radar. Bucking recessionary trends, the Orla Kiely brand has seen well-managed, rocketing growth in the past few years. Portrayed as "a quiet force" within the industry, her work, heavily influenced by 1950s to 1970s Scandinavian design and favoured for its nostalgic charm and wit, now sells extensively throughout the world. In the past five years export sales have trebled, winning the company the top prize at the UK Fashion Export Awards earlier this month.
Kiely started in the 1990s by designing a handful of soft accessories, decorated with her trademark simple, rhythmic patterns. Then, slowly but steadily, she applied the effective design signature to a wider range of products, adding in a fashion range of complementary clothing. Now wallpaper, stationery, homewares and furniture have been added to the mix, and her simple designs are instantly recognisable and popular with a cross section of consumers, as our quick street survey in Covent Garden indicated. If you have been to London in the past few months you may even have noticed some cheerful double-decker buses bedecked in her famous multi-coloured Stem print, brightening up Oxford Street like a sophisticated take on the old Dublin Smartie buses.
Before going to London I had mentioned to several people that I was going to meet Kiely. The response was one of overwhelming enthusiasm, which was backed up by reading a number of blogs which discuss her work with gushing reverence. A textile designer friend rated her as among her top five designers, and a wonderful role model. "She's a woman's designer," said one Italian friend.
"I love her and she's huge in the States," my American aunt told me. However, most admitted that they knew very little about Kiely herself and couldn't quite describe what it was about her work they actually liked, beyond that deeply inadequate c-word - "cute".
I had better luck with Ilse Crawford, design commentator and author of Home is Where the Heart Is. "The reason her work is so loved is that she uses familiar references that a lot of people like and relate to. There is also a nice domestic homely thing in there and her pattern language is simply great - very engaging. But what is so joyous is her sense of colour. It is so expressive - just lovely - and offers that basic human thing, happiness."
Ordinary folk are not her only fans; young Hollywood loves her style too, albeit for everyday wear, not red carpet dazzle. Kirsten Dunst, Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson have all been spotted brandishing Orla Kiely bags or clad in her retro-style clothing. However, unlike some of her clientele, Kiely is not a front-of-camera person and would rather let her designs speak for themselves. Her low-key style is standing the test of time and transcending fashion year on year, which is quite remarkable considering the high turnover in the fashion world and the impact of the more brash super brands on the market.
The reason is clear, according to Crawford: "If design is only style-driven and people aren't in the mix, it doesn't work. Orla allows space for the person to express themselves." Perhaps this explains why creative people admire her work. As Kiely herself puts it: "I am not interested in perceived luxury. Colour is much more important to me - colour and functionality."
I had started my day with Kiely and Rowan at their design studio and offices, tucked down a small lane off Clapham High Street. Rowan, mug in hand, greeted me first and showed me around the three-storey building, housing about 40 staff. The south Dubliner appears too youthful and unassuming to be in charge of, and co-founder of, what is now a multi-million pound empire with shops in Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Paris and London. Endearingly, he puts the brand's success down to his wife's enormous talents. "Orla is a brilliant designer," he says without hesitation.
Undoubtedly, but a lot of brilliant designers are not offered such control of their brand. Credit must be given to Rowan for his strategic commercial decisions that led the company to being able to supply over 550 retail outlets in the US through their new distribution centre in New Jersey. There is also a massive new contract with a big US retailer for an extensive range of kitchen and laundry merchandise and new outlets are opening regularly - their latest new store is in Jakarta. "Jakarta!" he repeats, shaking his head as if not believing it himself. QWell, what about Ireland? "We are actively pursuing a business opportunity in Ireland," he says cautiously. "However, Orla is passionate about Ireland and we have to get it right."
As a partnership, Kiely and Rowan successfully manoeuvred their early careers so that Kiely could begin her own label in the mid-90s. Kiely's big break came with an early commission for a range of hats for Harrods in 1993, following her graduation show from the Royal College of Art. Various designs in soft accessories followed and her collections of handbags won instant critical success. Many top retailers, including Brown Thomas, began to supply her covetable bags and accessories.
As Kiely was left to get on with the design aspect, Rowan was responsible for setting up the distribution and licensing agreements that have created new business all over the world. The ensuing commercial success and universal appeal of Kiely's recognisable designs led to the opening of their own stand-alone stores, with 12 in Japan alone. "What we are most proud of is that we still own our company 100 per cent," Rowan says. No mean feat in a retail world where investors are constantly scanning for buy-out opportunities. Indeed, they have been approached to float the company in the past but remain dedicated, for the moment, to strengthening the brand and maintaining the creative freedom that Kiely enjoys.
In between operating this growing global business, the couple seems to lead a relatively balanced family life. Home, a large Victorian house, is a few blocks from their office in Clapham. Conversation easily switches between business and what their young children Hamish and Robert have been doing at school. Does all the travel interfere with family life? Does work follow them home? "We try to leave it at the office," Kiely says, "but the children are part of the whole thing. It's unavoidable. However, we try to ensure that only one of us is travelling at a time, and of course we have been able to take them on some trips. They came with us to Japan and New York recently."
The atmosphere in Kiely's open-plan studio is friendly and relaxed, spurred on by the recent introduction of their boisterous puppy, Olive, a lovable Labradoodle. Natural light floods in from floor to ceiling windows which have been imprinted with a white Orla Kiely Stem print. It's a quiet hub of creativity, with the usual productive untidiness found in most studios. In between piles of references, catalogues and sample books, computer screens offer tantalising glimpses of new Orla Kiely designs and patterns. Kiely sits to one side of the room, surrounded by a team of mostly 20-somethings plucked from some of Britain's best art colleges, such as St Martin's and the RCA. Herself a graduate of the National College of Art and Design in Dublin with a Masters from the RCA, she shares her design wisdom willingly. With a calming disposition, her face changes frequently from a thoughtful frown to a warm smile. There is no evidence of any pecking order or a "Madam" designer; Kiely is as approachable as her young team is enthusiastic. Regularly bombarded by them with a host of different questions - was the trim right on this, should they go ahead and sign off on a bag design - she replies quickly and decisively. This benevolence obviously shines beyond the studio, as her appointments as visiting professor to the RCA and external assessor for NCAD testify.
Her attractive and arty team are the Orla Kiely brand personified. Most of the women had one of her bags by their feet or on their desks. Several, including Kiely herself, wore her colourful clothes in a casual and layered style. Everyone was drinking from Orla Kiely mugs. No doubt the pup Olive would have had some Orla Kiely doggie accessories, but these particular items have yet to be designed. It was all so vibrant and seductive that I regretted my plain black handbag, which, in these bright surroundings, looked downright dull, boring, and though I wasn't even part of the team - disloyal!
Kiely's work has been described as "optimistic", which is just another way of saying that black rarely figures in her work. But, as she points out, this is not cast in stone. "I tend not to use very much black but it is not a hard and fast rule. Last winter I did a little black dress and a black Stem print. They were both hits!" However, as Ilse Crawford pointed out, it is her use of colour, a blend of bright and subdued, that belies Kiely's true genius and has led to her copious awards and her being appointed, for example, to the creative board of Dulux.
Crawford, also on the board, explains: "The use of colour is a complex thing; it's not just about choosing the right shade, it's also about balance and tone and light. People vastly underestimate how difficult it is to use colour. Colour is also a feeling, a dynamic thing which we adjust as an expression of our moods - Orla has got the practical skills to work that and is simply brilliant with colour."
On the studio floor that morning, large print-outs of next season's designs were laid out for inspection. Across desks, two of the young design assistants mused over the application of the famous Stem print onto canvas shoes for a label in Paris, and another, clad in an Orla Kiely mini dress, discussed packaging with Kiely for her new range of luxury bed linen, which will be launched in London in August. It seems obvious where future reworks of designs like the Stem or Pear or Car will lead - mostly into homewares, where the possibilities are endless.
But as with her fashion range, Kiely has been careful not to over-kill the design language. Often her clothes flatter the patterned accessories, and she is careful not to plaster the textiles all over with her recognisable motifs. This relays her principle that "Good design is not over-designed, and functionality is king". On close examination of the range, you'll notice a surprising amount of plain colours and textures are used to calm the patterns down. Blending and colouring are very subtle.
It led me to compare her work with another successful brand - Cath Kidston - who has a shop near Kiely in Covent Garden. Much more girlie, rosy and less contemporary, Kidston's business is nevertheless comparable in that she applies a strong, appealing, nostalgic design signature to a host of different merchandise. Both have remained true to their style, transcending fashion, and both have successfully made their names into global brands. But Kiely shows much more restraint and sensibility in the application of her design.
With recession looming, the mid-market especially is suffering, losing out to the two extremes of retail: cost-cutting at one end and over-priced luxury at the other.But Orla Kiely's bold, cheery and colourful products are holding their own despite being at the more costly end of mid-range. It's an extraordinary achievement, carefully managed and well executed.
Now then, when can we expect an Orla Kiely shop in Ireland? Watch this space.