Orla Kiely – A/W 2010

There’s always something very sweetly retro about Orla Kiely. For autumn/winter 2010, her life-sized dollhouse was full of 60s glamour, with twinsets galore, short coats and bold details. Above the knee lengths and pieces with multiple uses, this collection has very much a graceful Swinging Sixties vibe.

The models wandered in and out of the two rooms of the “apartment”, seeming to wait for the right time to wander out to a party. The set-up invited us to step into the designer’s vision of an autumn palette and a new leaf print, inspired by abstract art and Erwin Olaf’s photography. The best bit? Having the impression of shopping my stylish mother’s closet, but with pieces that are exactly right for today. Her bag range, which has expanded again to include a new weekender bag, the Laurel, gives me the urge to grab it for a very stylish weekend.

Orla Kiely herself looked quite fetching at the presentation, all smiles and seeming to have also stepped out from the pages of her lookbook.