Orla Kiely

Great designer from Ireland has a shop with a super line of women’s clothing and bags. Also in Seven Dials are is her home decorating shop. Both are beautiful with well made, uniquely design products.

Orla Kiely (which after many years of being a fan, I just found out is pronounced Kylie, not Keeley. The shame!) was the first place I ever bought something designer. Heck, I think it might still be the only place! I had been coveting a handbag in the window for a while, and after a big life change, I decided I needed to have said handbag to commemorate things. That was around 9 years ago now, and I’ve followed OK’s rise to fame, traipsing around to sample sales and trawling through eBay.
Now OK stuff is pretty widespread, so it’s just not as special to me and I’ve gone off it a bit. But there was a bag last season that I really liked the print so as I was walking by, I decided to pop in and see if they had any left in the sale. There is an odd layout to the store, with two halves on the first floor that aren’t connected — you have to go down to the basement or back outside to get to the other half.
So down I went and yes, they had the bag! I was so excited until I picked it up — and the fabric and the quality was completely different. Perhaps it’s more durable or there’s some good reason, but all I know is that the price is the same as it’s always been (accounting for inflation-​type price rises) but that it feels, and looks, cheap up close.
There were good priced things in the sale, and the staff were really nice, but I sadly left empty handed.

I would definitely believe that the shop people are rude. I purchased a better bag ($ 360 bag) in Dec 2012 on holiday and when I got home could not have it in my house due to a bad smell coming from it. Either the leather process ia bad (dead animal bad) or the fabric – which is NOT oil cloth but a polyurethane product – stinks, It has been in my garage ‘airing out’ for 15 months with no improvement. The shop people told me to ship it, I did. They denied that it smelled, then literally smashed it into a different box and sent it back. Later the manager said indeed they do use polyurethane and it is known to off gas and also to be toxic to many people (my complaint) but still would not refund me, No tag on the bag indicates that it is polyurethane. I would never buy from this company again. There are lots of great prints out there. and less rude people selling them. These products are overpriced for what they are. Materials are cheap.
Very disappointing, and out $ 360.

I wouldn’t believe what the other reviewers say about the shop girls being rude. They were so kind and helpful to us, and it wasn’t only because we bought something. The shop is split into three parts — two upstairs rooms (one furniture, one household goods) connected by a downstairs room (clothing). There needs to be at least one shop attendant in each room, obviously, as I would consider it rude NOT to have someone there if I wanted something, and then there are one or two more to help with the stock, which is kept downstairs out of sight so that the showrooms are beautiful and inviting and make you want EVERYTHING in them. It’s true they need to call out downstairs to get the items from the stock room when you purchase something, but that did not annoy anyone in the shop while we were there. Please don’t feel you have to be intimidated by the lovely sweet girls in the Orla Kiely shop. They even told us where to get yummy coffee when we went back to ask for a suggestion (a couple doors down — Monmouth — delish!).
We had an enjoyable time in the shop and of course I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to live there like any proper Orla fan.
Do be sure to stop to enjoy the window display from inside the hall between the upstairs shops! The ceiling and windows make for a fun backdrop for souvenir photos with you and your gigantic Orla Kiely shopping bag (worth buying a vase for!).

I agree with Laura N on this… I would love to live in a world full of prints like this shop! I don’t think I could live in this actual shop (it’s too close to Hotel chocolat, so I’d be too tempted to sit around on pretty soft furnishings eating yummy chocy!) …but I digress.
In fact, I have started to fill my world with Orla’s pretty prints. I tried to buy an Orla Kiely duvet cover (a couple of times) in Heals, but they failed me, so I called this shop to check they had my duvet, and walked down to pick it up. Easy peasy. Once I’d stepped through the door I had to imagine pony-​style blinkers to block my view! Everything is so cute! I now covert the cute poppy meadow teapot, and the radio (not that I’d ever spend £150 on a radio!!) …I may have inadvertently also bought a tea cup covered in pears… it was calling to me to take it home. Honest!
I didn’t have any problems with the staff like Vicky L did! I popped in a few minutes before they closed, and the lady by the till was really sweet and chatty.

It’s not that I don’t like Orla Kiely, their stuff is fine, but the shop girls here are RUDE. I mean, yeah something got stolen while we were there and they got a bit distracted but the rudeness and complete disinterest started before that. (I could have forgiven you for shouting up and down the stairs after the fact but not anything that happened before the theft).
If I’m going to throw down a couple of hundred pounds on a bag (at 50% off), I expect you to say more than a (prerfuctory and short)“no, we’re out of stock” and walk away. I went to Brora that same afternoon, the lovely sales assistant immediately went to look for the right size in a different color for me to try, found the shops with stock, exactly how many they had in the city and offered 3 different ways of paying for said jumper to ensure I get it posted to me. Without me asking her to do any of these things.
May be I have overly high hopes for the service industry, but that asian girl was so rude and disinterested in her job I really had to stop myself from throttling her or punching her in the face.
At the end of the day I guess everyone in Covent Garden are tourists, so you can afford to skimp on the niceness.

I can’t believe I didn’t already write a review for Orla Kiely’s flagship store in London. As an American on holiday, I go nuts when I find something I can’t find easily in the States and I just about lost my mind when I was at Orla Kiely. (I already own one of her leaf-​print vinyl wallets and, literally almost every time I’m shopping, someone remarks that they love it! Yes, her stuff is that awesome.)
Orla Kiely is a MUST (!!!) if you love fashion /​mod /​Scandinavian-​style design /​textiles. Seriously. If you love whimsical prints, COLOR, and vintage-​inspired styling, this is the place to shop.
Not only can you buy her clothes, wallpaper, and bags here, you can find stuff like Orla Kiely fabric covered couches. So stunning.
Prices are definitely not for the cash-​strapped, however, I still regret not buying a tote and dress while I was there.
Orla Kiely just opened up a store in New York City (USA) and I’m honestly considering flying there just to see it. (yeah, they have an online shop, but it’s totally not the same.haha.)

…Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone…
I never knew how much I enjoyed using a wash cloth in the shower until I moved to Europe, where they’re not widely used (they’re rarely in hotels and I couldn’t even find any at IKEA!) While perusing the bath section at Orla Keily I spied some sweet stem jacquard «face cloths». They were £3.00 each — I bought four — and they’ve already provided enormous enjoyment! Plus, Orla Keily prints just can’t help but make me smile!
In fact, they’re so soft I’m thinking about going back for towels too! And did I mention the dresses?

Very popular with the ladies…
I’m not adverse to a bit of shopping. I’m a sensitive guy. And Orla Kiely is an often safe bet when buying for my opposite sex. It has a strong calm sense of design often revolving around her leaf motif. Deco meets a kind of northern European 60’s minimalism. Great relaxed staff make the experience an added pleasure. Nothing for us men though, less the simple if expensive pleasure of giving.

Umm, can I live here?
No, really. Could I set up camp? Curl up on a three colour stem rug, pull up the flower blossom king duvet cover, flip my hair over into a multi stem embroidered towel? Rest my head on a blanket stem print pillow and my footsies on the tapestry cushion…
Think about it. I could totally store my personals in a tiny teacup print sling bag, pop my accessories in a crayon forest print tote, draft a set of emails before bed from the scribble spot flower A6 notebook, and write Unilocal reviews on my cross hatch stem A5 composition book. I love what I’m writing, so why stop now?
Finally, I’d sip tea from the linear flower oval print mug, and take a healthy swig of water from the brita wottle bottle before switching off the tulip print wide shade table lamp and sleeping happily ever after. It would be like waking up to a dream… everyday!
Just one question: Are any of your products edible?

I love the designs, but the staff was so rude that I can’t bring myself to go back. The sales girls followed 3 feet behind us around the _​entire_​shop but when we turned around would awkwardly pretend to straighten something and not meet our eyes. Seriously? You can’t even fake it by asking if we need help or something? I used to delight in the shop but simply can’t stomach purchasing anything there now.