Kathryn O'Brien, painter, designer, biker, mother of four
DESCRIBE WHAT YOU'RE WEARINGI bought this jacket years ago in Asha in St Stephen's Green. It was completely plain and I handpainted the back with images from The Lord of the Rings with acrylic paint and a black marker. The co-pilot stripes are from my former husband, a pilot, and the badges have been collected over the years. The jeans, on which I've handpainted a parrot, are by the Italian designer Paola Frani, and the leather and tweed boots I bought in Cenenatico in Italy, where I live and paint for part of the year.
DID YOU MAKE THE JUMPER TOO?Yes, I knitted it from scraps of wool I found in a car boot sale on the Cork/Dublin road. I wanted the Johnny Depp look and I wanted it to swing, hence the flying panels. It's trimmed with buttons and embroidery in Swiss darning, to create a military look. On the back I've embroidered the chorus from a Mary Chapin Carpenter song End of My Private Days. I used to teach how to embroider and knit on RTÉ.
WHAT'S WITH THE PIRATE THEME?I have always been interested in pirates because my ancestor was Captain Kidd, on my mother's side.
DO YOU ONLY WEAR BIKER GEAR ON YOUR BIKES?Yes. I have about six jackets (and a lot of bikes), but this one is my favourite, it's like a comfort blanket.
WHAT IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE ITEM YOU'VE EVER BOUGHT?A little military jacket with insignia from All Saints, which cost about €365, and that was an investment buy because I wanted to look different in Italy.
YOU MENTION MILITARY A LOTI like military because of the braids and the buttons and the details. I love details. I'll cut everything off a garment before I discard it and keep all the buttons and change them on to blouses. I'll cut jeans into shorts. I'm thrifty – it's the way I was brought up, but everything is neatly categorised in jars, all laid out.
HAVE YOU ALWAYS MADE YOUR OWN CLOTHES?I used to cut up my father's shirts and embroider them, and I had the first bell bottoms in Clontarf. My mother made all my clothes and taught me everything.
SO SEWING MACHINES ARE PART OF THE FURNITURE?No, I can't stand them, can't stand the noise. I do everything by hand and what my mother didn't teach me, I learnt from Sister Helena in the Holy Faith in Clontarf.
DO PEOPLE COMMENT ON THE WAY YOU DRESS?Non-bikers find it very scary!
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU AVOID WEARING?I have a problem with Barbie pink – I don't wear much pink or white. I prefer old colours such as duck egg blue, old rose pink or yellow ochre. I have a lot of black, but my favourite colour is Prussian blue, the colour you find in old paintings.
WHAT ABOUT SHOES?I get all my shoes from Pollini in Italy. Manuela is the youngest daughter of the dynasty and her penthouse is in the palazzo where I live, so I buy directly from her showrooms. She designs catwalk pieces for Dolce Gabbana, Prada, Fendi, Paola Frani and others.
WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE DESIGNERS?I love John Galliano, and Oscar de la Renta when he did those funny little military jackets.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE MAGAZINES?I buy all the textile magazines in Italy – they give you trends a year in advance. For me, textile design is an art form that empowers women. In pre-Renaissance Italy all art was art, whether textiles, architecture or pottery.