You may remember my interview with Andrea from Tí Tighe last year (you can read it here), well since then she has gone from strength to strength and is now part of an upcoming television show with TG4 called Gléasta chun Féasta (Dressed to Party)! Last year we got an exclusive with regards her dress collection – well today I am back with a behind the scenes series as well as a sneak peek into her design studio!
Andrea has long been a favourite Irish designer of mine. Her headpieces that incorporate spikes and beaded details are certainly some of the most eye-catching that I have seen in recent years and her passion for design and natural creativity just shine through in all of her work. If you are not familiar with her work your first stop should be here to see her showstopping collections.
Gléasta chun Féasta is a truly unique idea for a television series and one that I think so many of you will find interesting. The premise of the show is that a designer (Andrea), a stylist and an artist meet a person each week and must design/create an outfit for that person. The person will have a certain event that they want to be dressed for. And here the twist – when they meet the person they will be wearing an all black jumpsuit! They will get to ask them one question and also see their house.
The designer/stylist/artist will have no idea what their personality is like or what their interests are in day to day life. It really tests the intuition of them to be able to create an outfit that is show-stopping but also one that the person would wear.
The events that they may have to be dressed for include the Trinity Ball, a family party, a graduation and also a very important Communion. In the first round the person wearing the piece at the event will eliminate one outfit and then in the second half of the series – they will choose the winning outfit.
There are 10 episodes in total to this unique and creative series and for the for the first half of filming they see the videos and meet the people that they are to dress. They have February and March to design and then the second half of the series kicks off in April. The entire show has quite the quick turnaround from Andrea’s point of view, as there is a lot to design, and then to create as well. I think it is such a creative challenge to not be able to talk to the contestants and see what their style is, who inspires them etc. and to go off that creative gut instinct. But I cannot wait to see what it creates.
And another intriguing question… will Andrea create dresses? Jumpsuits? Separates? There are so many possible variables in this challenge and I think what will be really interesting is also the colours that each chooses to dress the person in. It will be great to see what each took from the brief meeting with the person – did they all pick up the same things about the person’s personality?
Andrea has also really enjoyed the process so far – they were shooting in a studio in Dublin which is quite different to what she has done before. They also capture footage of the three of them working as well. And the actual show itself has them travelling all around the country to Galway to Dublin to Wexford! It is such great exposure – and I think that Gléasta chun Féasta will really catch on.
From meeting with Andrea I have no doubt that she will be superbly on the show – she has an amazing eye for detail, design and colour and also does not seem fazed by the cameras! I know who I will be rooting to win!! 🙂
Behind the scenes
And you may notice the images posted throughout this article… well these are quite literally behind the scenes in Andrea’s home studio. This is where she creates all those beautiful pieces. I loved seeing where she keeps the materials, some of her most famous pieces in person and also through her beautiful lookbook. It is amazing to see where these creations are first dreamt up and then handcrafted togeather. I love hearing about designer’s inspirations so actually being in her workshop was a pretty amazing experience.
A massive thank you to Andrea for the whirlwind tour, I loved seeing behind the scenes and also learning about the new series – it will be one that I no doubt will be glued to. Make sure that you follow Andrea via her website as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!!
I will leave you with some stunning images from her latest lookbook;
