AVOCA WEAVES ITS MAGIC

Amanda Pratt, creative director of Irish fashion and home store Avoca, tells Georgina Heffernan how she helped turn a rickety old building into a company that employs 650 people …



GH: When did you first open the business and what was your original vision for it?
AP: In the 1970s, my dad Donald, had a client who owned a mill at Kilmacanogue, near Avoca in Co Wicklow. He was going to close the 18th century mill down and redevelop the site. The mill, built in 1723, was practically defunct, but he saw its potential and strongly believed that the tradition of hand-weaving should be kept alive. When my brother Simon and I got involved in the company, almost twenty years ago, Avoca was renowned for its tweeds and woven blankets, which were aimed primarily at the American market.It was the early 1990’s, we were young and full of ideas and we wanted to put our own stamp on things.

At that point, we didn’t have any ‘Vision’ for the business, and we never imagined that Avoca would grow into the fashion and lifestyle brand that it is today. We were just going on gut instinct, trying to create the kind of place that people would love.Almost immediately, Simon started cooking in the lodge, making all his homemade soups and salads and I began buying in unusual handcrafts to add to the stock that we already had in the store. We started off with items that we thought were beautiful and unique rather than the kind of items that we felt we should have in stock - and that certainly helped to give Avoca a fresh new appeal.


GH; How has the Avoca brand grown and developed over the years?
AP: I have always been obsessed with fashion and I used to make my own clothes, even when I was a little girl, so creating my own collection was something that I’d always wanted to do. About eight years ago we launched the Anthology range of designer women's wear and we’ve recently added Avoca Origin as well. Both collections have been incredibly successful and we now sell in countries all over the world such as Germany, Canada, Japan, America and France. I work on both ranges with designer, Emma Lunsden, and we have a wonderful team of pattern cutters and machinists at our studios here in Kilmacanogue.

We design all day long and we bring out about two collections per year, which is made up of about 1,200 samples but because we love what we do we don’t really mind putting late nights and 11 hour days. I’m very lucky because I work in a very creative environment that excites me; when people are creative and they don’t get to work in a place that inspires them, they can find it quite distressing.Emma and I are like magpies and that, very much, informs the way we work. We don’t like throwaway fashions and we are drawn to pieces that last and have a timeless beauty to them. We really like working with natural fabrics and things that are unique– from ornate buttons to lavish trimmings. I practically devour fashion magazines and I really enjoy watching trends but slavish followers of fashion don’t interest me; I always keep an eye on what’s in fashion but try to do our my thing at the same time.
　

GH; What, do you believe, is the secret to Avoca’s success?
AP:I have always thought that it’s really important to do what you love because, somehow, when you do, success always seems to follow. It reminds me of a phrase from the film Wayne’s World, ‘Build it and they will come’. Our goal was always to build something beautiful and inspiring and, thankfully, people came. We started to feel the pinch at the retail end of the business in 2008; the mill lost a lot of money, so we had to think of new ways to grow the company. When the recession really started to bite, I began to really search for a chink of light somewhere .Our Irish customers have been so supportive of our shops and cafés and for me that has been so important, but I really felt the need to develop an export that we could sell internationally.


GH: Have you had to streamline your business as a result of the recession?
AP:We came up with a range called Avoca Nest – a collection of home wares, accessories, knits and ceramics that we’d been holding back from the main collection. The whole concept behind Avoca Nest was that it would be export driven so that we could sell the Avoca brand internationally, rather than relying on the home market. Thankfully, the buyers really loved it - and now it is being sold in some of the most prestigious stores throughout the world.



GH: What’s your motto or philosophy?
AP:I have always thought that it’s really important to do what you love because, somehow, when you do, success always seems to follow. It reminds me of a phrase from the film Wayne’s World, ‘Build it and they will come’. Our goal was always to build something beautiful and inspiring and, thankfully, people came. 　


 www.avoca.ie