Katie Gallagher was a fashion designer. She founded her own brand in the New York City. She was an American. She died in 2022. Katie completed Bachelor of Fine Arts in Apparel Design from RISD, Rhode Island School of Design. She came up with her first collection in New York Fashion Week in September 2009. She named her collection ‘Veil’.
It got positive response from the press. She also participated in Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Search for emerging designers, 2009-10. She was a semi-finalist in that competition. Katie presented her collections for New York Fashion Week in 2010, 11, and 12. She continued to present her collections to various fashion weeks like New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week from 2013 to Feb 2022. There are high-end stores of Katie Gallagher fashion in H. Lorenzo, Florence, and London.
Is Katie Gallagher the Right Designer for You?
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Katie used to make a lot of sketches. And then she turned them into designing clothing. Her designs have been like a transition from artificial themes to more romantic ones. Her details and aesthetics got a wide acclaim. The way she gives importance to body, the curves, the dark palette, and things like blood.
Katie initially wanted to pursue a graduation in painting. But then, she went for apparel design. She said that painting and drawing are intrinsic to apparel design. She always painted before constructing any pattern.
It gives her an idea as to what collection she will bring forth. She came to know that if she started a degree in painting and became a painter, it is not going to pay her loans. And she had taken a lot of loans. And also, her dad was not paying any of her bills. So, she decided to opt for apparel design so that she could do a commercial job.
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In her childhood, she never thought of art in terms of creation. It was just an exploration. It was about exploring nature. She liked holidays like Halloween. She also liked to doodle.
Going from RISD to NYFW was really overwhelming for her. But it was a great one. Her designs are like narratives of a story. She tells a story through her clothes. According to her, clothing is a representation of our personality and worldviews. Many of her previous collections were called sci-fi. But she believed that she didn’t want to design clothes for forest creatures. She liked to design different themes. She designed clothes that were wearable.
There was something special about Katie Gallagher. She had a strong determination. She paved her own path. Her designs were transient but they were strong. She had a creative vision. In her last days, she was working on her 27th collection. She had great craftsmanship and creativity. She had a love for designs.
She told stories through clothing. She liked making patterns. And she reinvented style through that. She used to do a lot of vintage shopping. And then, she used to sew on her grandmother’s sewing machine. Then, she started making designs from scratch. In the college, the first thing she made was a design from metal springs. That dress was worn by Lady Gaga.
She designed clothing like leggings and gowns. She liked to design clothing that she like to wear. The way she made patterns was special. It is something different from the traditional way. She designed according to the curves of the body. Leggings are the clothing piece she was find of the most. She loved flare leggings. She also had love for music. It was reflected in her design. She said that by looking at what someone was wearing, she could make out his music interests or the kind of music he listened to.
Maayan Zilberman was a designer who was Katie Gallagher’s contemporary. Both had different aesthetics. But they shared a bond and common ideology. Nickolay Saveliev was a graphic designer in Katie’s college. He fell in love with her. He lived with her in New York. Nichola Formichetti and Daphne Guinness were intrigued by her designs.
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Katie was shy and introverted. She was intelligent. She had a passion for fashion designing. Her designs were quite different from conventional designs. She had made designs for Lady Gaga, Rita Ora, and Laverne Cox. She was inspired by designers like Alexander McQueen, Martin Margiela, and Jean Paul Gaultier. She had an avant-garde approach. She always experimented with things around. She took risks. She was inspired by nature, aesthetics, Japanese art, and architecture. She always pushed boundaries through her designs.
Katie always stood for sustainability in fashion. She believed in ethical fashion. She used organic cotton and bamboo in her designs. She always made designs that had lesser impact on the environment.
Katie Gallagher is an inspiration for young fashion designers. She is a unique personality in fashion industry with her own style and ideas.
By Bhawna
