Episode 4 of DESIGN POD is now live! In the this episode, in association with Bathroom Brands Group, editor Hamish Kilburn and co-host Harriet Forde welcome designer Jack Irving as the show’s special guest. Having created outfits for the likes of Lady Gaga, Paris Hilton, The Spice Girls and more, Irving discusses fashion highlight, collaboration goals and the result of his debut interior design project. This is what happens when fashion and design meet…
Often interior designers and architects admit that they are inspired by the energy and buzz that radiates from the fashion industry. The quick conveyer-belt of collections – blink and you will miss this season’s frocks and colours– naturally allows boundaries to be stretched and incubated creativity to explode onto the runway. And yet, it is rare (not unheard of, though) for the two industries to work in harmony.
In episode 4 of DESIGN POD, editor Hamish Kilburn and co-host Harriet Forde meet a designer who, for many reasons, is an inspiration in both arenas. Jack Irving was just 21-years-old, a student still at Saint Martins College of Art and Design, when his dream collaboration came true. The iconic ‘Mother Monster’ herself, Lady Gaga, had seen his otherworldly designs and asked him to create an outfit that she would wear on the final night of her Art Pop world tour in Paris. Rising the occasion, Irving created the Sea Urchin Showgirl inflatable dress.
Since then, Lady Gaga as well as other celebrities such as Paris Hilton, The Spice Girls have worn many of his pieces. In order not the limit himself – nor draw attention away to the visionary fashion designers – Irving does not consider himself a fashion designer. Instead, following his studies in performance design, we prefer to use the terms ‘storyteller’ and ‘fantasist’. “Whatever term used, it would be remise of anyone to not consider Jack a visionary in both worlds of fashion and design,” said Editor Hamish Kilburn who first interviewed Irving in 2019. “As impressive as his fashion portfolio is, it is Jack’s entry into interior design that inspired the title of this episode – and indeed Hotel Designs closely following his journey.”
To amplify a guestroom renovation inside W London, the hotel teamed up with Irving to create a limited-edition pillow collection. Taking inspiration straight from the catwalk and remixing it with the bold attitude of W London, the spiked pillows, available in every guestroom of the hotel, appear muted to the naked eye until they are brought to life through the click of a camera flash. Through the lens, the smart fabric transforms into an iridescent masterpiece. And it was this fashion-forward, daring and raw talent that the DESIGN POD producers wanted to capture in this episode.
Listen to the full episode here:
The next DESIGN POD episode, which will drop next month, will invite the design duo at Carden Cunietti to explore the theme of creativity crafted.
