Irish luxury womenswear and print brand Katie Ann McGuigan presents their 9th seasonal collection for Autumn/Winter 2022, continuing to refine the brand’s signature aesthetic blending their Irish heritage, the natural and social environment of the British Isles, and looking to interiors and furniture design for print and textile inspiration. Looking back to the 60s and 70s, photography of the era capturing a vision of the British Isles before globalisation imbues the brands collection with a yearning for the past, retro touches, simpler times, and something truly Gallic capturing at once the complexities and contradictions of these island nations on edge of the Atlantic.
AW22 sees the designer take inspiration from British photographer Shirley Baker’s 1961-1978 work “Dog Show”, candidly capturing dog shows in working class areas of Greater Manchester. The works playfully capture the oddness of owners, with hair as coiffed and styled as their pets, at the most uniquely British of competitions – the dog show. What on the surface seems like humour, belies a world of subtleties that speaks to the eccentricity of the era and the mood of the times, but also hold a thread that can be traced back from the current day that questions how much things really change – once you can look beyond the primped hairdos and vintage clothing of the day. Exploring this space is at the heart of Katie Ann McGuigan’s creative vision – a glimpse of the past with a hint of today – constant, timeless, classic – nostalgic, familiar, and effortless.
Katie Ann McGuigan is a contemporary luxury label based between London and the designer’s native Ireland, with a conscious approach to sourcing and manufacturing within the British Isles. The commitment extends across the supply chain from sewing technicians, pattern markers, shoemakers and factories to textile sourcing, yarns and independent producers. Furniture and interiors are a constant thread through McGuigan’s creative vision, born of her upbringing around her family’s company Orior. This foundation in interiors has been realised through a series of collaborations with Orior across soft furnishings, wallpapers, and rugs.