POP 793 Weekend 7-8 January 2012

Today's POP is Rachel. Heavy clouds with no signs of rain.

 

 

Womenswear designer

Sorcha O’Raghallaigh moved from her small town in rural Ireland to London in 2006 to study knitwear at Central Saint Martins. Her Gaelic roots continue to inspire her work: her floor length gowns are rich in fairy tale, ethereal embroidery and the influence of Pre-Raphaelite silhouettes. Selfridges is stocking a selection of these intricate pieces, including embroidered collars and tulle headbands.

 

 

 

Where did you begin when creating your window display? How did you intend to present yourself as a brand; as a space?
It's a collage of all the things I love and that excite me. For example, the goats are reference to the film 'Holy Mountain' that I'm a bit obsessed with right now. I played with scale through the extended figure as a reference to my graduate collection. The flowers are ubiquitous within my work and form a continual reference to the day of the dead. I wanted all the things I love to come together in a dream-like world. I am always inspired by the ever changing sky, so I chose this as the landscape for everything to sit within. I wanted to play with the depth of the window, so using old toy theatre techniques I created wooden clouds to achieve this. Essentially it's everything but the kitchen sink which is me; more is more.

 

The attention span of shoppers on London¹s most famous high street can be notoriously short. How does your window grab their eye?
I think its kind of dramatic and playful so hopefully it will grab the attention of passers. I'm not sure that it will be everyone's cup of tea but I think, or hope anyway, that it will be eye catching.

 

Did you enjoy moving from using visual inspiration to create a functioning fashion collection to then translating this idea into a static space? What further informed you in this progression between mediums?
I absolutely loved this medium. It's nice to have an alternate platform for my vision and therefore be able to expand my ideas and create my mood in a tangible space.

 

 

 

The creative team behind the Selfridges windows are world-renowned. How did you collaborate with them to achieve the finished vision for your window?
I sent through my proposal and the amazing team at Selfridges worked through my ideas to help realise my design and push it both practically and creatively.

 

What have you learned from this journey where you've gone from presenting your work to a somewhat niche audience, to then taking it to the masses in the biggest way possible? Has it altered your outlook in any way?
It has been an amazing journey and I'm really excited about the whole project! It's a stage to show my work to an audience that without this opportunity I may never have had.

 

Which of your own pieces currently stocked in Selfridges did you chose to include as part of the display? Can you explain some of the references or design process behind these garments?
A selection of clothing and accessories from my Spring/Summer 2012 collection will be stocked exclusively for 'Bright Young Things.' This is my first ready-to-wear collection. With my previous collections I became accustomed to creating one-off pieces. It was a new and exciting challenge to create this wearable collection whilst still retaining my aesthetic.

www.sorchaoraghallaigh.co.uk
 

 

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The Bright Young Things windows will be displayed until the end of February. For exclusive pieces created for this project, visit the Oxford St flagship or

www.selfridges.com

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