Orla Kiely: the must-haves

THE DRESS

Although Orla Kiely has designed far more striking dresses than the ‘Birdie’, this brown jacquard wool dress worn by Kate Middleton in 2012 is destined to be Orla’s most famous and undoubtedly most collectible fashion item.

THE BAG

The multi-stem laminated bag, shopper and wallet lie at the centre of any serious Orla Kiely collector’s haul. She started in 2000 with the iconic rowan tree stem and leaves pattern and, in recent years, punched the leaf outline onto modern leather bags.

THE MUG

There are websites devoted to the Orla Kiely print family and creating a family of mugs in different prints like multi, linear and scribble stem plus the early little. And if one colour shouts Orla Kiely, it’s olive – and she even has a dog called Olive.

THE LUGGAGE

In a sea of samey black wheely cases, the Orla Kiely bag always stands out a mile on the carousel. Car prints were a personal favourite and the PVC matt laminated canvas cabin-size cases are very popular, with a matching wallet for diehard fans.

THE FURNITURE

Many women brought their love of Orla Kiely into their homes and highly prized were her mid-century inspired furniture pieces. The bookcases and chairs did not come cheap but fans started with cushions, rugs and lamps.