Off Message

News of Orla Kiely’s fashion business troubles came as a surprise to many last week, but not to this columnist

Orla Kiely: her current troubles reflect how perceptions in fashion matter

The Orla Kiely bubble has finally burst – and I can’t say I’m surprised. Some parts of the Irish designer’s company went into voluntary liquidation last week, but the Kiely aesthetic had become a parody of itself a lot earlier than that. Years earlier, in fact.

How much more could the Irish public take, after all, of linear stem-designed handkerchiefs, branded soap, shampoos and conditioners, and the same linear stem-designed flowery hand-towels in ...