The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
HELPING MARKLE SPARKLE: ROYAL SEAL OF APPROVAL FOR KERRY’S KING OF FASHION
BALLYHEIGUE designer, Don O’Neill, says he has no doubt that his late mother Mim played a huge role in orchestrating his ultimate career highlight last week when the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markel, was photographed wearing one of his Theia creations during the Royal Tour of Australia.
Still reeling from the excitement of dressing one of the world’s most photographed women, Don paid a touching tribute to Mim, who is forever in his thoughts.
“In this world of thousands of incredible designers to choose from, I truly count myself blessed to have dressed The Duchess and I believe my mom played a major role in helping this opportunity come about,” an emotional Don told The Kerryman.
Describing the Royal request to custom make a Theia gown for the Duchess as a ‘magical opportunity’, Don said he had one week to create the gown.
After that it was a guessing game for Don, never sure if a dress such as this will actually make the cut. Thankfully the Duchess was clearly impressed with the Kerry designer’s talent and wore the gown to a black tie dinner in Tonga last Thursday night.
Seeing the photographs all over social media the following morning is something Don says he will never, ever forget.
“I switched on my phone, clicked on Instagram and the very first image on my screen was The Duchess wearing my ivory gown, holding hands with The Duke in his black tuxedo. I had to blink the sleep out of my eyes trying to properly focus on this surreal image that I had only dreamed I might one day see,” Don recalled.
“There was an immediate surge of adrenaline. Tears in my eyes, I couldn’t even see the phone anymore. It was just utterly surreal to know that my dress, a dress that I designed and that we lovingly made in our studio just a few weeks ago was now here, on The Duchess of Sussex, the most famous woman in the world, looking amazing.”
Amazingly, Don’s Spring 2019 bridal show last April was inspired by Meghan Markle, with his models wearing tiaras in a majestic palace setting. Little did he know that just six months later he would be dressing the Duchess herself.
“They say if you put an intention out there, it will manifest itself. Well that show was a huge intention.” Dressing one of the world’s most iconic women will certainly catapult Don and his Theia brand to super design stardom, something which an ever-humble Don is hugely grateful for.
“She is the number one woman in the world right now that every designer wants to dress. All I can say is that last Thursday and Friday that dress dominated every fashion site and blog on the planet, with glowing reviews of how wonderful and radiant she looked,” he said. “There were hundreds of stories, all mentioning THEIA couture and Don O’Neill and that can only have positive results for those who already know me, and those who will want to wear my dresses in the future knowing that I dressed The Duchess of Sussex.”
And it seems that hundreds of people are queuing up to wear that now famous dress, with orders coming in hard and fast.
“We had the dress available for pre-order on our website with orders flowing in immediately, while our department stores are also asking how quickly we can deliver the dress to them,” Don said.