We’ve been eagerly following the career of designer Úna Burke for a long time now, but this year she has completely outdone herself on the fabulousness scale. Burke, who is based in London, has received international acclaim and developed a host of celebrity clients, thanks to her stunning leather accessories. Using vegetable tanned bovine leathers and traditional leather- working techniques, Úna has developed and refined her trademark leather panelling, joined with brass fittings. With this she creates seasonal fashion collections and sculptural art pieces.
Burke has just finished showcasing her SS16 ‘Nude Collection’ in Paris – but that’s not all the designer has been busy with this year. Burke recently collaborated with the luxury car brand Lexus on a truly unique (some would say ‘mad’) project: to create a haute couture outfit crafted from, well, car seats. Yes, as part of Lexus’ Create Amazing project, the carmaker commissioned the award-winning leather artisan to create a stunning dress made entirely from the leather used in the interior of the Lexus CT. As ever, Burke’s genius was unstoppable, and the ornate, almost reptilian armored dress she created was a stunning piece of fashion architecture.
“My pieces are quite sculptural, made using construction techniques involving the strapping of leather. I then join the leather with solid brass fittings that are coated with gold. Lexus commissioned me to create a piece that was really unique, from the leather that they use in their CT car, so we sat down and did some sketching, came up with a few ideas, and eventually settled on creating a dress and a shoulder piece.”
It’s perhaps unsurprising that Burke wasn’t daunted by the unusual task, given that she sees her designs as pieces of sculpture – and like any good artist, that means creating beauty out of nothing. Or out of car leather, in this case.
“My approach to creating pieces isn’t that of a fashion designer, it’s more like that of an artist, so the concepts behind the collections are really important to me.”
This commitment to concept is evident, and Burke’s collections have been used as part of some high- concept costumes in Hollywood and the music world. Her stunning leather neckpieces and armlets have been featured in The Hunger Games, while three of Taylor Swift’s famous squad donned the stunning rock-chic leather pieces in Swift’s award-winning ‘Bad Blood’ music video. Cindy Crawford and Hayley Williams both wore Burke’s Holster Brace in black leather, while Ellen Pompeo wore Burke’s nurse’s cape in raspberry and navy leather.
With genuine supermodels, Hollywood darlings and pop princesses wearing her incredible designs, you’d think that Burke would be collecting famous muses left, right and centre – but purist that she is, her inspiration only comes from one source.
“I work in the area of fashion, but my first point of contact for every project is always my leather and my tools.”