Following up with Irish designer Oran Aurelio, he answered more of RSVP’s questions, where he revealed what it was like to design the Traitors Ireland cloak and more.
Oran has already worked with some of Ireland’s finest throughout his college career, from CMAT, to Roisin Cullen to Siobhan McSweeney.
Was the cloak you designed for Siobhan McSweeney the first piece you had made going on television apart from CMAT’s Jools Holland dress?
“I was able to use my 4 years studying costume thinking ‘okay its going to be under cameras, lights’ because a lot of things I’ve done have been either fashion or stage wear. I’ve done things that have been recorded like performances, but this was the first time doing something specifically for a tv show which again, every single job is a different experience.
“The show did so insanely well, it was on BBC, it really blew up. I was really honoured especially because I love a big cape and I got to use gee fabric which was so fabulous because it was all made in Ireland. Irish tv production, Irish host with Irish fabric made in Dublin, there was something so special about it because I never thought I’d be able to that. Its an in-house production do you know what i mean?”
Your dream is to design Olympic uniforms. Paul Costello designed for An Post and Griffith College graduate Emma Collopy designed the Ryanair uniforms, so it’s not that out of reach?
“The Irish Olympic uniforms tend to be designed by Irish designers. Because I make circle skirts out of taffeta maybe that won’t be the uniform”, he jokes.
“I’ve always been obsessed with the Olympics, to see people push human ability to the limit, I think there’s something so animalistic and amazing and beautiful about that no matter what sport it is.
“Seeing the construction, the logistics are so amazing, it would be such a challenge but I would die for it.
“One of my favourite designers ever is Roy Halston. He designed an American airline, he chose the wallpaper, the fabric for the seats and floors, the uniforms, I think that’s fabulous. A fashion designer designing uniforms always comes out so chic and fabulous. Something like that would be fabulous.
“I adore figure skating and curling. The Winter Olympics kind of has my heart I just get so excited about it. I’m not a sporty person by nature.”
Where did the Princess Diana corset dress come from that you gave to the band Bimini, and do you ever have any issues with copyright?
“A lot of the things I do are one-offs or one of ones, or they’re just studio samples, they’re not for sale. The Bimini dress was the first thing I had printed on fabric but I didn’t get that specially printed on fabric, it was a second hand Princess Diana t-shirt from either a charity shop or eBay or Depop, something like that.”
“I just cut it up and hand sewed it up onto a dress. All the image stuff I have done have been one of ones. The Princes Diana thing was so special because I made the dress before they even wanted it. It was my first visually striking piece within the first year of me selling my work, my first big big opportunity.”
Did you see yourself entering this wave of designs for concerts?
“When I first started sewing I was making these looks and costumes essentially so I could practice sewing. It just so happened I made this corset for my friend that had Natasha Lyonne on it and she posted it on her story and people started contacting me. That was the fifth or sixth thing I’d ever made in general.
“The trial runs were for performers and drag queens. I didn’t have the perception of not having it for a purpose.
This whole wave of artists and performers having stylists, looks and aesthetics which can essentially make someone famous, it’s so important. Visual identity of someone is so important now, it’s fascinating to me. I like being a part of that legacy. Subverting it or feeding into it.
“Venues are really important to me. Collective effervescence, when crowds come together. That really comes into how I design stuff.”
What do you think your signature or symbols look like? When you see a look sometimes you can tell it’s your design.
“That’s genuinely the biggest compliment you can give me and I don’t know! I’ve gotten that before and it warms my heart. I don’t feel like I’m a costume or fashion designer, I make clothes and I feel so lucky. When people compliment the work, I don’t comprehend why they do. I’m so grateful that I do have a vision or a look, but I couldn’t tell you what that is.
“I’m really into La Bella Figura, it’s an Italian word for the feminine figure…pretentious” he jokes. “It’s basically the feminine figure in the basic sense of what do I want to do with this.
“A big skirt, luminous skirt, a circle skirt are consistent in my work and the fabrics I use.”
If you could bring one retail chain to Dublin what would it be?
“Uniqlo. The most perfect basics, a good polo neck, a good jean, a good bag. Or maybe a Rick Owens boutique or a Jean Paul Gaultier boutique, a high designer flagship store that’s not just part of a department store.”
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