KACEY DEVLIN

With a unique take on clothing design – one that evokes an architect’s take on architecture – Kacey Devlin brings the conscious mind back to dressing. She challenges tradition, questions conventions and speaks with body language – how does she do this? She’s an observer.

KACEY DEVLIN has a deeper understanding of clothing than most; she uses it as a means to engage the senses and comment on society – the way that architecture does. HOLLY CUNNEEN investigates.

Fear of failure is something we can all relate to. It cripples countless creatives and stonewalls the best of us. If you think that those who’ve found success and acclaim aren’t concerned about what their contemporaries, their friends and their families will think, you’d likely be sadly mistaken.

What separates those that do from those that don’t is simply that: doers do. They give it their all, in the face of insecurity, trepidation and doubt. Take Kacey Devlin; her highly conceptual, eponymous fashion label is like no other and that’s a big part of why she’s been so well received. But imagine the self-doubt that goes hand in hand with traversing a path few others have: is there a reason for that? Have others tried and failed? Will I fail? “There was that fear of failure,” she admits. “It get’s to you.”

But after a brief hiatus following her degree – and dalliance in the world of Public Relations – Kacey was back in the game and boy, aren’t we glad. As it happens, it turned out to be a working hiatus giving her crucial insight into another side of business. “[Working in PR] gave me a wholesome view of what it would be to potentially run a business in the industry: what sort of point of difference you needed,” says Kacey. “When it comes to having a creative business you really need to be concrete in what you want to say, otherwise it could become a little bit confused or diluted.”

So while her label is undeniably abstract, she has a clear focus, consistent message and distinct brand handwriting from season to season.

Kacey Devlin the label was born from a thesis and film installation she completed in her final year of university. “I really wanted to see if I could decode how and why we dress ourselves. Obviously it’s a part of covering ourselves, but it’s something that we do every single day and I don’t think that we’re totally aware.”

The idea was to heighten the senses when dressing and adorning the body, looking at semiotics and body language to uncover the role clothing has in providing comfort and confidence – separate to its primitive function. If university was the exploration phase, then her brand is her findings taken into effect. Her designs bring a conscious effort back to dressing.

With a view that clothing should be treated as architecture for the body, she designs her collections looking at how people interact with others, with themselves and with their garments. It’s less about the aesthetic and how you present yourself to the world, and more about how your clothes make you feel when you present yourself to the world. Discomfort breeds distress while – and you’ll have to forgive me the cliché – when you feel good you look good.

“[If] you’re a designer you’re a problem– solver no matter your discipline. Industrial designers will design a chair to make us sit more comfortably, graphic designers design signs to point us in a direction, and I think as fashion designers we design clothing to make people feel more secure, more protected, but also more at one with themselves. That’s the one thing that I go back to every single season. If I’m not doing something to make someone feel better, then I don’t really need to design it or to have it within the collection,” says Kacey.

“It just comes from observing,” she continues. “I’m a bit of a people watcher. I don’t mind going and sitting at the bus stop for half an hour and just watching people walk in the street.” As a result you’ve got pockets deeper than your arm’s length, exaggerated

“[If] you’re a designer you’re a problem– solver no matter your discipline...as fashion designers we design clothing to make people feel more secure, more protected, but also more at one with themselves.”

cuffs and thumbholes to fiddle with, multifunctional pieces that can be worn snug or loose according to taste, and the back, a “vulnerable but strong part of the female body” often left exposed or deconstructed to echo that sentiment.

In a similar vein, typical garment fastenings are vehemently avoided – constricting the body is their first offense, not to mention the impact they can have on the drape or hang of fabric. But a more noteable offense according to Kacey, is limiting longevity. “They’re normally the first things that go in a garment. Your button pops, the clip comes off, the zip breaks and people throw it out. The whole garment!” Kacey says in disbelief.

Longevity is a big consideration for Kacey, lending itself to durability. While it might not make a lot of sense on the business side of things, she designs new seasons with an eye on the last so that pieces can tie easily back into previous seasons. In doing this she establishes an element of trust with her clients; her pieces are an investment not just of currency, but time too. As you should with all highly designed, highly crafted pieces, you invest in something, you take care of it, and you keep it.