I first became aware of Orla Kiely in the mid-90's when I saw her accessories at Saks Fifth Avenue. Back then everything else in the store seemed to be black, relying on branding for differentiation. Orla's goods with their sophisticated colours and prints with original elements were a nice breath of fresh air.
When Luisa (above) and I started Hazelnut Studio, our textile design business, around 2000 some of the first references we sought and used for inspiration were from the work of Orla Kiely, because her prints were so delightful and fresh.
Her new book, Pattern (pub: Octopus Publishing ), nicely documents her work starting with a personal account of what inspires her and explaining her thoughts on colour, scale and proportion.
It is engaging and a useful reference book for people involved in design or merchandising and with art books being so affordable these days, it would make a great gift for anyone interested in fashion or design and an essential reference for people like me, interested in mid-century styling since her interior goods would work so harmoniously in a room of that using decorated with furniture of period...
by Robert,
TheStyleScout*I accepted a copy of this book for review but this is not a paid promotion.
