Orla Kiely Collaboration with Uniqlo

On Thursday 6th September I went to London's Fashion Night Out with my friend.  We didn't really know what to expect from it as it is based all over London, not just in one section.  However we stuck to Covent Garden and then made our way onto Oxford Street.  The atmosphere around was buzzing with music, free champagne and goodie bags.
We had heard that the shop Uniqlo was hosting a big night of fashion including a collaboration with the famous textile designer Orla Kiely.  She would be there doing a signing and an opportunity to purchase pieces from the Autumn/Winter 2012 collection.  As we both love Orla Kiely's designs we decided to go and have a look, not really knowing what to expect.

We were not disappointed! Once we were in the shop we saw the huge queue for the signings, but we decided to bypass this and head straight for the collection.  It was amazing! As you would expect there was a lot of people there trying to buy their favourite pieces, the atmosphere was bustling, everyone was excited to see what they could buy.

There were cute little dresses with peter pan collars, loose tunics, hoodies, long sleeved tops and scarves.  There was a real retro feel to the designs, inspired by the sixties era.  The prints and colours were gorgeous and included small floral and ditsy repeat prints as well as the well known repeat prints of Orla Kiely.  I purchased a few pieces for my winter wardrobe which I cannot wait to wear! 

Little bouquet of flowers and Orla Kiely postcards from the free goodie bag!

Orla Kiely doing the signings..

Here is a small snippet of an interview I found from Grazia magazine with Orla Kiely about her collaboration with Uniqlo:

Grazia Daily: What made you collaborate with Uniqlo again?
 
Orla Kiely: After such a successful collection for SS'12 I was really happy to do another collection with Uniqlo. I really admire their philosophy and classic style but also their attention to good quality materials. The price is great and it definitely feels like the ‘less is more’ approach to styling which is very modern.
I love the Japanese aesthetic and so it has been great collaborating with such a popular and cool brand.

Grazia Daily: What is it you love about Uniqlo?
 
Orla Kiely: Uniqlo is quite a unique brand. You rarely see such a focus on quality in high street retailers now, and I think UNIQLO own this market. Their prices make the quality accessible. I was delighted when they approached me because it was an opportunity for our brand to be seen and appreciated by a wider audience. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.’
 
Grazia Daily: What is your inspiration behind the collection?
 
Orla Kiely: I was excited about doing a collection for Fall/Winter this time as I wanted it to feel very different to the last season. We were really keen to introduce some new shapes that had the 60s vibe yet were still in keeping with the Uniqlo aesthetic. I think they look great.
  
Grazia Daily: What is your favourite print and piece in the collection?
 
Orla Kiely: I love the scarves for Fall/Winter as they are such a great quality and the prints look fantastic on them, especially the Acorn Cup print. Something that I always try to do in my collection is combine large scale prints alongside the more ditsy prints and this was equally important for this collaboration with Uniqlo. I also love the cute jersey dresses.

sourced on 22/9/12 from: http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/archive/2012/08/17/orla-kielys-second-collection-for-uniqlo-is-coming-watch-this-fab-video-in-antic.htm