Sarah O’Rourke

I am Sarah O’ Rourke, owner of award winning Saraden Designs Millinery. I continuously strive to push boundaries and make bespoke millinery pieces that are handmade, embrace sustainability and present themselves as wearable art pieces.
My aim is to capture audiences around the world and show them that millinery can be for everyone and to bring millinery back to the forefront of fashion.

I was trained classically in Visual Art Practice & Sculpture Design in I.A.D.T Dun Laoghaire. Since finishing formal education I honed my design skills bringing together a love of textile design and sculpture.
I hand make my fabric, once a sheet is created it cannot be replicated making each design bespoke. All cut offs are reworked back into designs leaving no waste.

My work distinguishes itself with my bold, unexpected materials and colour combinations while my love of fine art sculpture is peppered throughout with the inclusion of multimedia art & craft forms such as textile design & embroidery.

I do not mass produce any of my work whether it is ready-made or custom designs and I am a slow fashion brand. Millinery is craftsmanship that takes hours of intricate detail to create a design.

Business Objectives

Early this year I was approached by an agency to showcase a collection during New York Fashion Week. Unfortunately, Covid put a stop to that but it is something which I plan to revisit

What do you hope to achieve with your business?

Early this year I was approached by an agency to showcase a collection during New York Fashion Week. Unfortunately, Covid put a stop to that but it is something which I plan to revisit

My brand very much revolves around occasion wear. This year has forced me to think outside the box. I want to explore expanding my brand online, I have begun to expand into a new market in the form of communions and I will be launching a specific line for that. I also will be launching a specific wedding collection of bridal hair pieces.
Movies and television are another area I want to branch into. From having my design used as props or as fashion segments on television.
Covid has forced me to rethink how my business is run and I want to focus on rebranding and building more of an online presence in 2021

What have you learnt whilst on Crafting Business?

I have learnt I need to let someone help me because I cannot do everything. As good as I am at some things my expertise would be better put to use in my designs rather than for example the admin side of the business. The admin takes up a huge amount of time and it would be great to have someone I can trust to take all that over.

I had an idea of where I wanted my business to go and the course reassured me that the direction I am going in is the right one. Sometimes you need that little bit of reassurance to put your anxieties to rest. Covid was not something anyone expected to happen and I have had to re-evaluate my business and how I run it. I had begun to reassess it before the programme started and again it was reassuring to see the steps I was taking were in the right direction.

Share your top 5 tips based on what you have learnt personally whilst on Crafting Business:

• Everyone has an opinion on how you should run your business and will tell you that opinion, take what they have to say on board even if it is not the direction you see your business going in it may be helpful further down the line.
• Planning is essential, you need to plan every inch of your business from how long you will spend on something to when you will be posting online, you cannot put half the effort in
• You need to switch off, as much as your business is your baby if you do not learn to switch off you will burn out. I put myself in hospital twice in 3 months so I have learned the hard way you need to look after yourself.
• Success does not come instantly; it is something you need to work long and hard at. When you do have that success big or small enjoy it because you have worked hard to get it.
• You need to think bigger, living in the moment is very well and good but you need to think of the bigger picture. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? etc

Image Credits all Sarah O’ Rourke