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Wisdom: Clodagh, Designer, New York"I didn’t grow up wanting to be a designer. My father

planned his children’s lives, and I was slated to study atTrinity College Dublin and become a professor in classics

and mathematics."

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INTERVIEW BY SAMANTHA BROOKS

September 20, 2019

I never tell anyone my age. When I was 17, I was working as a fashion designer in Ireland,and a potential customer came into my atelier. When I told her how old I was, she saidshe’d come back when I had more experience. You’re either too young or too old. There’snever a right age.

I didn’t grow up wanting to be a designer. My father planned his children’s lives, and I wasslated to study at Trinity College Dublin and become a professor in classics andmathematics. But I had been in a horseback-riding accident, and I was stuck in bed with abroken back. My mother brought me a copy of the Irish Times one day, and there was anad that said, “Why not be a fashion designer,” and I thought, “why the hell not?” My gradeschool friends had always complimented the way I wore my clothes, and so it seemed like agood idea.

I started with fashion, but then transitioned into interiors and beyond. I don’t like tocategorize myself as an “interior designer.” I’m a designer. I’ve never planned my career.I’ve always been open to seeing where things go. I do furniture, lighting, even logos forcorporations. I’m like water—I like to flow everywhere.

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My first real project was renovating a farmhouse and townhouse in Spain for my husbandand I. This was about 40 years ago. The townhouse had been used for offices with a bunchof cubicle spaces, and we were going through demolition. The dust settled, and a beam oflight hit me on the left shoulder, and I realized that I wanted to create spaces for people tolive in that would help them enjoy their lives. I turned the ground floor into a little studio

The rooftop lounge and pool at The Seychelle in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Christian Horan)

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and retail space, working with environmental architecture. I’m all about life-enhancingdesign.

I’ve worked all over the world doing all kinds of projects, most recently a moon garden forSix Senses Kaplankaya Resort in Turkey. I enjoy the diversity of design, such as the park Idid for a hotelier in Armenia with playgrounds for kids, or yacht interiors for the jet set,multi-family building complexes, hotels, restaurants, private homes —it’s all so varied.

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Sustainability and wellness are so popular now, but they’ve always been woven through mylife. I was brought up in the Irish countryside where there were healers and mystics, inOscar Wilde’s summer home in Cong. We had lots of horses and dogs. My uptight family

The main dining room in the Sage & Sea restaurant at Six Senses Kaplankaya Resort & Spa in Milas, Turkey. (Photo by John Athimaritis)

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was very fussy about what went into the garden. No chemicals were allowed. I learned thatIf I wanted my horse to jump higher, I fed him better. If I wanted our dogs to win a show,it was all about exercise and food. I realized when I was about ten, that this applied tohumans too.

So, wellness is always top of mind for me—and for those who might think it’s a trend, itisn’t. Trend is a dirty word. I believe in movements. I’d describe wellness as “ease of self,”permeating many layers: financial wellness, wellness in communication, and on and on. I’mtoo busy looking at my own mistakes to look at other peoples’, but the things that botherme the most about other designers and wellness is the superficiality of it. Sometimes itis more decoration than anything else. We strive for something that can look beautiful andrefract energy in a good way. You walk into some places and your heart lifts. I knowpeople’s energy can be enhanced by design.

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For most of my career, I’ve had imposter syndrome. I’m constantly searching. As Nureyevsaid, “I am not trying to dance better than anyone else, only better than myself.” We werejust photographing a multi-family housing project I did that has 1,875 units. I designed awellness facility for the residents and included feng shui for balance. It finished about a

The entrance way to the spa at the Miraval Arizona resort in Tucson. (Photo by Ken Hayden)

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