Orla Kiely facts for kids

Orla Kiely (born 24 May 1962) is a famous Irish fashion designer. She lives and works in London. Orla started her career by designing hats. Later, she began creating handbags and many other items, like kitchenware and even car designs! She earned a special degree from the Royal College of Art. Before starting her own company, she worked for several other businesses.

In 2018, the main company that sold Orla Kiely's fashion items changed how it worked. However, her designs are still sold through other stores and partners.

About Orla Kiely

Orla Kiely says her grandmother was a big creative inspiration in her life. Her father was an accountant, and her mother studied science.

Early Life and Education

Orla went to school at Loreto College, Foxrock. She studied to become a textile designer at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland. After that, she moved to New York to work for a company that designed wallpaper and fabrics.

Later, she moved to England. There, she worked for a company called Esprit. While working, she also studied for her master's degree at the Royal College of Art in London. She focused on designing knitwear. For her final show at the Royal College of Art, she displayed a collection of hats. A famous department store called Harrods bought them! She also did design work for other well-known companies like Marks & Spencer and Habitat.

Starting Her Own Business

Orla began designing handbags and hats after her father noticed something interesting. During her first London Fashion Week, he saw that everyone was carrying a handbag, but nobody was wearing a hat. This gave her an idea!

In the late 1990s, she thought of a new way to make handbags. She decided to use laminated fabric. This meant taking cloth and adding a special coating to make it strong and waterproof. At the time, this was a very new idea for handbags. Most laminated fabrics were only used for things like tablecloths.

In 1997, Orla and her husband, Dermott Rowan, started their own company called The Orla Kiely Partnership. Her husband explained that it all happened by chance. Orla was designing for other companies and also creating her own collection on weekends. She would give her designs to Dermott to organize. Their apartment became very busy with deliveries! Orla showed her collection at London Fashion Week and got her first orders from other countries. The next year, they took their designs to a big fashion show called Premiere Class.

Awards and Recognition

Orla Kiely has received many honors for her work. She has been named a Visiting Professor of Textiles at the Royal College of Art. In 2016, she became a Senior Fellow there.

In 2014, she received an honorary degree from the University for the Creative Arts. In 2015, she was made an Honorary Fellow of the British Institute of Design. She also received an honorary doctorate from Norwich University of the Arts.

Orla Kiely's Designs

Orla Kiely's design on the back of a London bus

The Guardian newspaper has called Orla Kiely "the Queen of Prints." This is because she is famous for her unique and colorful patterns. Her designs have been used on many different items. These include kitchenware, stationery, furniture, wallpaper, and even special editions of Citroën DS3 cars.

She also designed a special refillable water bottle called the "Wottle." This was a partnership with the water filter company Brita. The bottle features her well-known green-stem design. It is made from a type of recyclable plastic called high-density polyethylene. The bottles are made by a company in Suffolk, England.

Orla's business is run from her design studio in Pimlico, London.

She has also written several books about her designs. These include Home, Pattern, and A Life in Pattern. The last book came out in 2018, at the same time as an exhibition of her work at the Fashion and Textile Museum.

Personal Life

Orla Kiely is married to Dermott Rowan. They have two sons.