London To Host Orla Kiely Exhibition

The Fashion and Textile Museum will stage a fashion exhibition next year showcasing the work of Orla Kiely, the museum has announced today, as part of its 2018 summer exhibitions calendar.

The retrospective, entitled Orla Kiely: A Life In Pattern, will be the first exhibition dedicated to the Irish designer in the UK, including the original paper sketches for her signature ‘Stem’ graphic, created in the 1990s, which has evolved to feature on everything from mugs and dresses to notebooks and even cars. Featuring over 150 patterns and products - alongside collaborations with photographers, film directors and architects - the exhibition will examine in detail the power of decoration and the role of ornament and colour as part of the changing aesthetic of the 21st century.

“Over the past 20 years we have built an archive of fashion, accessories and homeware rooted in our signature style,” said Kiely. “With the exhibition, we will be bringing it all together under one roof in a celebration of design, print and colour that has become the Orla Kiely brand.”

With unique access to the brand’s archives, the exhibition offers a privileged insight into the Kiely’s world. “It is very exciting and an enormous privilege through which we can show the dynamic power of design while looking positively to the future with a clear vision and global identity established,” the designer continued.

Orla Kiely: A Life In Pattern follows the likes of previous fashion exhibitions presented at the the Fashion and Textile Museum, including this summer’s Anna Sui retrospective, The World Of Anna Sui and a number of must-see fashion exhibitions taking place in London this summer. To mark the announcement we tapped the brand for an exclusive visual diary of its past in pictures.

Orla Kiely: A Life In Pattern will take place from May 25 – September 23 2018 at the Fashion & Textile Museum.