{{Short description|Irish fashion designer (born 1962)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Orla Kiely | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|5|24|df=y}} | other_names = | education = [[Royal College of Art]] (MA) | occupation = [[Fashion designer]] | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = Dermott Rowan | children = 2 | awards = Irish Tatler Woman of the Year<br/>UK Fashion Export Awards (twice)<br/>UK Fashion Export Gold Award | website = {{URL|www.orlakiely.com}} }} '''Orla Kiely''', [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (born 24 May 1962)<ref name=times2010>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/yummy-mummies-favourite-d3ntv7q38nd |title=Yummy mummies' favourite |date=12 December 2010 |work=The Sunday Times |last=Davidson |first=Andrew}}</ref> is an [[Irish people|Irish]] fashion designer based in London. She began her career designing hats, and moved on to design work on [[handbag]]s and a variety of other items including [[kitchenware]] and cars. She received a master's degree from the [[Royal College of Art]]. She worked with several companies before setting up her own business.
Kiely Rowan PLC, the retail and wholesale entity operating the fashion business under Kiely's name, ceased trading on 17 September 2018 but has continued selling through its distribution partners.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2018/0919/994673-orla-kiely|work=[[RTÉ]]|title=Orla Kiely to close retail and online businesses|date=19 September 2018|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref>
==Biography==
Kiely credits her grandmother with being the creative influence in her life. Her father was an [[accountant]]; her mother studied science before being forced to give up work by her employers after she married.<ref name=goodwebpatternreview>{{cite web|url=http://www.thegoodwebguide.co.uk/home-garden/interiors/book-reviews/design-inspiration/pattern-by-orla-kiely-book-review/12891|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926052202/http://www.thegoodwebguide.co.uk/home-garden/interiors/book-reviews/design-inspiration/pattern-by-orla-kiely-book-review/12891|archive-date=26 September 2018|work=thegoodwebguide.co.uk|title=Pattern by Orla Kiely|first=Emily|last=Jenkinson|date=2 September 2010}}</ref>
Kiely was educated at [[Loreto College, Foxrock]].<ref name=times2010 /> She qualified as a textile designer at the [[National College of Art and Design]] in Dublin and moved to New York to work for a wallpaper and fabric designer.<ref name=cuttingedge>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/interiors/cuttingedge-patterns-orla-kielys-unique-designs-have-made-her-interiors-label-a-massive-global-brand-2113265.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/interiors/cuttingedge-patterns-orla-kielys-unique-designs-have-made-her-interiors-label-a-massive-global-brand-2113265.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=[[The Independent]]|title=Cutting-edge patterns: Kiely's unique designs have made her interiors label a massive global brand|first=Kate|last=Burt|date=22 October 2010|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref> She moved to England to work for [[Esprit Holdings|Esprit]] while studying for a [[master's degree]] at the [[Royal College of Art]] in London,<ref name=couttswoman>{{cite news|url=http://www.couttswoman.com/2008/february/features/orla-kiely.asp|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221195333/http://www.couttswoman.com/2008/february/features/orla-kiely.asp|website=couttswoman.com|title=Orla Kiely: The Irish Charm|first=Barbara|last=Walshe|archive-date=21 February 2011}}</ref> primarily in [[knitwear]].<ref name=cuttingedge/> In her exit show at the RCA, she displayed a range of hats which were purchased by [[Harrods]]. She did design work for [[Marks & Spencer]] and [[Habitat (retailer)|Habitat]].<ref name=couttswoman/>
She began designing handbags and hats after her father noted during her first [[London Fashion Week]] that everyone was carrying a handbag, but no one was wearing a hat.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/business/global/06spot.html|work=[[New York Times]]|title=A designer's gift for understatement|first=Shelley|last=Emling|date=5 June 2009|access-date=7 February 2022}}{{subscription required}}</ref> In the late 1990s, she had the idea to laminate cloth for handbags: "At the time, no one was doing anything like it. Laminated fabric, in those days, meant tablecloths."<ref name=cuttingedge/>
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. Kiely was consulting for other companies and designing her own collection at the weekend, which she would give to me to organize. We had this chaotic situation where deliveries of her designs would come into our apartment and if I didn't get them out by 5 pm, there was nowhere to sit!"<ref name=couttswoman/> Kiely showed in London Fashion Week and secured her first export orders. The following year, they took the collection to Premiere Class.<ref name="RTE">{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/tv/theafternoonshow/2008/1110/guest649.html|work=[[RTÉ News and Current Affairs|RTÉ News]]|title=The Afternoon Show, RTÉ One|date=10 November 2008|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=18 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918073009/http://www.rte.ie/tv/theafternoonshow/2008/1110/guest649.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
She has been awarded the title of Visiting Professor of Textiles at the Royal College of Art and was made a Senior Fellow in 2016.<ref name=goodwebpatternreview/>
In June 2014, Kiely was awarded an honorary degree from the [[University for the Creative Arts]].{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} In 2015, Kiely was made an Honorary Fellow of the British Institute of Design. She also was made an Honorary Doctor of [[Norwich University of the Arts]].{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}
==Design work== [[File:Orla Kiely Bus.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Kiely design work on the back of a London bus]] Kiely has been described by ''[[The Guardian]]'' as "the Queen of Prints."<ref name=myspaceguardian>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/may/10/ola-kiely-designer|work=The Guardian|title=My Space|first=Charlotte|last=Abrahams|date=10 May 2009|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref> Her designs have been used for a variety of objects, including [[kitchenware]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8078978/Food-news-Halloween-cupcake-decorations-Orla-Kielys-kitchenware-and-more....html|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|title=Food news: Hallowe'en cupcake decorations, Orla Kiely's kitchenware, and more...|first=Carolyn|last=Hart|date=25 October 2010|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref> [[stationery]], [[furniture]],<ref name=couttswoman/> [[wallpaper]],<ref name=goodwebpatternreview/> a range of [[Citroën DS3]] cars,<ref name=citroen>{{cite web|url=http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/News/Articlex/7f138d64c39c46d9918a47145b6ea2a7/Citro%C3%ABn-brings-in-Orla-Kiely-for-limited-edition-DS3-model.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119231754/http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/News/Articlex/7f138d64c39c46d9918a47145b6ea2a7/Citro%C3%ABn-brings-in-Orla-Kiely-for-limited-edition-DS3-model.html|website=mad.co.uk|title=Citroën brings in Orla Kiely for limited edition DS3 model|first=Matthew|last=Chapman|date=14 January 2011}}</ref> and [[Pure (company)|Pure Evoke Mio]] radios.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Newcombe |first=Rachel |date=2010-11-03 |title=Orla Kiely Pure Evoke Mio DAB radio |url=https://www.freshdesignblog.com/2010/11/orla-kiely-pure-evoke-mio-dab-radio/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=Fresh Design Blog}}</ref>
She has also designed a refillable water bottle called the "Wottle", which is a collaboration with the water filter company [[Brita (company)|Brita]]. The bottle features her green-stem design and is made from [[high-density polyethylene]], a recyclable plastic material, and produced by a company in [[Suffolk]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4739263.ece|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917232559/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4739263.ece|work=[[The Times]]|title=Green living: can Orla Kiely wean us off bottled water?|first=Anna|last=Shepard|date=12 September 2008|archive-date=17 September 2008}}</ref>
Her business operates out of a studio in Pimlico, London.
She has completed two publications entitled ''Home'' and ''Pattern'', both published by Conran Octopus. She released a third publication, ''A Life in Pattern'', in early 2018 to coincide with her exhibition at the [[Fashion and Textile Museum]] in May.
==Personal life== Kiely is married to Dermott Rowan; they have two sons.<ref name=worldof/><ref name=myspaceguardian/>
==In popular culture== In July 2010 Kiely was one of six contemporary, internationally renowned Irish fashion designers featured on a set of [[Postage stamps of Ireland|Irish postage stamps]] issued by [[An Post]]. The other designers featured were [[Paul Costelloe]], [[Louise Kennedy]], [[John Rocha]], [[Philip Treacy]] and [[Lainey Keogh]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.worldstampnews.com/2010/07/magnificent-irish-fashionista-stamps|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203001930/http://www.worldstampnews.com/2010/07/magnificent-irish-fashionista-stamps|work=World Stamp News|title=Magnificent Irish fashionista stamps|date=18 July 2010|archive-date=3 February 2014}}</ref> Kiely's stamp was an 82c stamp bearing her name in large orange letters at the top along with an image of a handbag with her leaf design against a white background.<ref name=worldof>{{cite news|url=http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG8020570/The-world-of-Orla-Kiely-designer.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|title=World of: Orla Kiely, designer|first=Sophie|last=De Rosa|date=27 September 2010|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref>
Her fashion line has been worn by [[Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.popsugar.com/fashion/Kate-Middleton-Wearing-Gray-Orla-Kiely-Dress-38895660|work=[[PopSugar]]|title=Kate Middleton Wore This Exact Outfit 3 Years Ago, and It Still Looks Just as Good|first=Sarah|last=Wasilak|date=28 October 2015|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/orla-kiely-closes-retail-and-online-businesses-1.3633713|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|title=Orla Kiely closes retail and online businesses|first=Mark|last=Hilliard|date=18 September 2018|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref> and celebrities including [[Kirsten Dunst]]<ref name=couttswoman/> and [[Alexa Chung]].
==Bibliography== * {{cite book|title=Pattern|year=2010|publisher=Conran Octopus|location=London|isbn=978-1-84091-553-2}} * {{cite book|title=Home|year=2013|publisher=Conran|location=London|isbn=978-1-84091-618-8}}
==See also== * [[List of people on the postage stamps of Ireland]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiely, Orla}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Irish fashion designers]] [[Category:1962 births]] [[Category:20th-century Irish people]] [[Category:21st-century Irish people]] [[Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Art]] [[Category:Alumni of the National College of Art and Design]] [[Category:Irish women fashion designers]] [[Category:People educated at Loreto College, Foxrock]] [[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]