Not content with being one of Ireland’s most successful young artists, known for her vibrant, colourful depictions of animals, faces and objects, Audrey Hamilton recently moved into the equally competitive world of fashion, launching her own luxury casualwear label in 2021.
The Audrey Hamilton Apparel range of joggers, sweaters and t-shirts are fashionable, cut for comfort and made to Hamilton’s exacting standards in Portugal. Best of all, they reflect the artist’s eye-popping artistic vision, featuring some of her best-loved artworks in dazzling colour.
“It was something that me and my husband talked about during the pandemic,” says the Monkstown-based artist.
“I love clothes and I've always wanted to come out with a fashion line, but I just didn't know where I would fit in. I just started sketching and [there] was the inspiration of putting the art on clothing.”
Audrey has gone for a comfy, oversized look for her t-shirts and sweaters, which are made from 100% organic cotton with simplified sizing – choose from S/M or M/L. As she explains, though, the generous cut wasn’t just a fashion decision.
“I designed our sweaters specifically for myself first because, you know, the lady bits have to be covered when we're wearing the tight leggings!” she laughs.
“I was adamant in creating something that was sexy and flattering, yet you're confident enough to wear it.”
She says that the collection has gone down well with women of all shapes and sizes, including pregnant women – and more than a few men.
“People are loving them,” she says. “They're super comfortable, they're super flattering, they cover all the bits. There'll be lots of other pieces along the way but I definitely wanted to start with an oversized look.
“I think guys are getting a little bit more fun with their fashion these days,” she adds. “There are no rules to fashion – you can wear whatever the heck you want. I would always encourage that.”
Despite Audrey’s success as an artist and her foray into fashion, none of this was part of the plan. Five years ago, she was living the dream in Los Angeles, working as an actress with credits in a number of feature and short films, as well as TV work.
A niece of the late actor Jack MacGowran, it was all she wanted to do, but the Dubliner’s budding Hollywood career was taken away from her at a crucial point.
Audrey and her husband Jack Lowe had – at great expense – secured special visas to allow them to work in the US. However, her acting career came to a screeching halt after she was abruptly dropped from a major Netflix production in 2017
It turned out that Netflix don’t employ foreign visa holders because of the paperwork and expense involved for them – if you want to follow your Hollywood dream, Audrey recommends applying for a Green Card instead. It was a bitter blow.
“That all kind of came crashing down, and myself and my husband decided, ‘Let's move back to Ireland’,” she says.
“He said, ‘You've got to focus on something else now’, because I was just like, 'This is all I know and all I thought I'd do', and I was 30.
“I was always painting around the house over there, and always doodling creatively, just for fun. And he was like, 'I'm gonna get you some supplies'.”
The rest, you could say, is history. Audrey started painting in her own inimitable and untutored style, and when she posted the results online, the reaction was immediate.
“Posh Pig and His and Her Giraffe were the first pieces,” she recalls. “I just posted them [on Instagram] for fun, and people went mad for them.
“People started asking me, 'Oh my gosh, how do I get prints of this?', and I was like 'Prints? What do you mean?'.”
She soon learned all about the world of fine art prints, which she now sells online. Not only have they been a source of income, they have also helped to raise a substantial amount of money for charity: most notably her iconic paintings of women’s breasts.
“My friend Georgie [Crawford] had breast cancer in 2017 and she is an ambassador for Breast Cancer Ireland, so I painted a pair of boobs – big, colourful pink boobs,” Audrey laughs.
“We raised €20,000 for Breast Cancer Ireland. I did another one last year, called Peaches, and we have raised just over €15,000 so far. There's still a few available and that will be all donated to Breast Cancer Ireland as well.”
So that’s a thriving career as an artist, charity fundraising and a new venture as a fashion designer: what’s next? Well, there is one priority for Audrey, who revealed back in April that she and Jack are expecting their first child…
“The baby will be coming soon, so I will probably have to take a little bit of time off out of the studio, but we definitely have plans,” she says.
“I've already started the designs for the winter collection – it's only going to be a small drop but I'm very excited about the two pieces that I've designed for it. And then moving on into different areas with textile next year. I won't say anything yet, but it's exciting.”
Meanwhile, Audrey has been dabbling in pop-up shops, and she has developed a taste for retail: “I'd definitely love to see a few stores – maybe one in the UK, one here, one in the States...”
Perhaps Audrey Hamilton will end up becoming a star in Hollywood after all.
Follow Audrey on Instagram - @audreyhamiltonart
