Duchess of Cambridge favourite Orla Kiely teams up with Uniqlo and Gwyneth Paltrow’s stylist Elizabeth Saltzman on falling in love with Tom Ford for the Oscars.
Orla Kiely wanted her collaboration with Uniqlo to complement the label’s existing designs.
The Irish designer has teamed up with the Japanese fashion house and says she was keen to get her own signature into the looks while still incorporating Uniqlo’s style.
She told vogue.co.uk, “Our idea was to showcase some of the prints from our archive in a way that combined my love of pattern and color with Uniqlo’s modern and cool clothing. The idea of mix and matching was important to the collection. In our mainline collection we work a lot with print and colour so that was vital to the collaboration as well. We chose signature prints that we felt worked well with Uniqlo’s easy, wearable philosophy.”
Orla – whose designs are a favourite of Duchess Catherine – says she was thrilled when she was approached to do the collaboration as she has always been a fan of the label.
She said, “I was excited when they came to us to suggest a collaboration. I really admire their philosophy and classic style but also their attention to good quality materials. The price is great and it definitely feels like the ‘less is more’ approach to styling which is very modern. I love the Japanese aesthetic and so it has been great collaborating with such a popular and cool brand.”
The ‘Contagion’ star only saw one dress – a sleek white off the shoulder Tom Ford creation complete with cape – and had one fitting for this year’s ceremony, and her stylist, Elizabeth Saltzman, said she knew straight away it would be perfect for her when she saw it.
Elizabeth told Goop.com, “This dress screamed Oscars to me. It simply was ‘the one.’ The dress was composed of all the elements that I look out for for Gwyneth: supreme elegance, grace, royalty, extreme modern luxury, simplicity without lacking intense skill and risk. It had a positive edginess to it as well.”
Elizabeth says she always considers her clients above the clothes she puts them in, and admitted she has to sometimes strike a balance between designer and her client.
She added, “You have to think about the person, their body, their confidence, their coloring, their wishes, their needs and what will be successful for them.
“Getting the right celebrity in the right dress can mean huge, and I mean monumental, publicity for a designer as well as the client.
“It’s about being honest with the designers and the other people involved, listening to what they’re hoping for, and striking a compromise between their vision and the client’s needs.”
Gwyneth said her dress was inspired in part by former US first lady Jackie Kennedy.
She said, “I tried on one dress. That was the dress and I thought, ‘it’s a little different but it’s sort of a throwback’.
“I saw a pic of Jackie O in a white dress with a cape and it’s been a while since anyone’s worn a cape, frankly, except for Superman.”
