Gloves are timeless – I think they are magical!
AN Irish designer has spoken of ‘the special moment’ a pair of her gloves, which fetch up to €4,200 in her Dublin shop, graced the Met Gala red carpet.
Paula Rowan, who lives in Monkstown, Co. Dublin, is certainly no stranger to Alisters wearing her designs, but said this year saw their first appearance at the Met Gala and the Oscars.
She told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘When I started the business in 2006, I essentially was making gloves for my shop. I really didn’t think for a moment that anything like this would happen!’
Top model Anok Yai wore the pink leather gloves with a matching bejewelled gown at the ‘gilded glamour’ themed event in New York on May 2, which the designer described as ‘an honour’. ‘For me as a designer, it’s a huge, huge compliment: beautiful, amazing, talented men and women around the world choosing my product from a brand that is not well-known and smaller than the major fashion houses,’ she said.
The designer, whose gloves were first worn at an awards ceremony by Helen Mirren in 2011, said: ‘I’ve been quite lucky… from early on, I’ve had some big names wearing my gloves, and it’s kind of gone from there.’
Some of the famous faces who have worn her designs include Madonna, Kendall Jenner, Naomi Campbell and Dua Lipa.
She also designed all of the gloves featured in Ridley Scott’s House Of Gucci, which led her to be featured in British Vogue and to continue to dress the film’s star, Lady Gaga. The designer said celebrities’ obsession with her creations show that gloves ‘are really having their moment’. She said: ‘In my eyes, a glove has always been timeless, but I think they’ve become really popular for two reasons. Number one, during the pandemic, we’ve all been educated about hand-sanitising and people are now thinking more about covering their hands, touching railings and that type of stuff. I also think when you look at the likes of Bridgerton and House Of Gucci and the prominence of gloves, they’re literally on every catwalk in a variety of colours.
‘Traditionally people have seen gloves as something an old woman would wear, but it is increasingly across the board. You’ve got pop stars who are in their 20s and then people in their 40s, 50s and 60s. So that’s something I really love about them.’ Irish stars who have donned her gloves include Imelda May and Ruth Negga, and she says that she has built a huge Irish client base at her store in Dublin’s Westbury Mall. ‘Irish people are really loyal. I’ve got a huge clientele who follow me after they read about the brand in Vogue,’ she said.
Ms Rowan studied history and classics at UCD, which she said first sparked her curiosity in gloves and their centuries-long importance in European culture. At college she enjoyed sewing and focused on art and design, and when she graduated, she decided to incorporate this creativity into her work at her family’s leather goods shop.
When she took over the store, Paula focused her work specifically on gloves, with the aim of becoming the best in the business. When asked why she chose to make gloves, she said our beautiful country, and notso-beautiful weather, played a huge part. ‘Well, firstly it’s cold here. So, gloves really are a necessity!’ she said. She added that the sea near her home, as well as the Dublin cityscape, directly inspire each of her designs. ‘The Irish landscape influences my designs,’ she said. ‘When I am out walking, I suddenly see something, like the stones in the wall. The blues and greens of the sea I use a lot. The metal bars in my gloves are inspired by metalwork I have seen while out. I also love the Art Deco-style buildings. I see things and think: “That would work in a glove.” Everything I do is influenced by Ireland.’
Her website describes the making process as an ‘Irish-Italian glove story’, as her Irish roots combine with Italian craftsmanship, with each pair made from premium leather and taking three months to construct.
She said she chose Italian makers because ‘they really understand what they are doing, fourth or fifth-generation leather workers’. She added: ‘They make gloves for all the major fashion houses: Gucci, Balenciaga, Burberry, all the ones you can think of. Between their quality leather and my ideas, we have created something magical.’