Poker Face star Natasha Lyonne wears one of his playful “levitating ribbon” headpieces in June’s Marie Claire, while supermodel Alek Wek sports his “exploded” fuchsia swing coat and vermilion saddle veil headpiece in Acne Paper’s spring/summer issue.
He was shortlisted for the British Vogue x BMW Future Creators Design Competition, and profiled in Vogue Australia.
This month he was back in Brisbane, as he is every year, for the Ekka.
“I do the fashion judging,” O’Grady says. “I think 2015 was my last year [entering], and they said, ‘Would you like to come back as a judge?’”
O’Grady grew up in Eatons Hill, son of vet Allan O’Grady, a local identity famous for having a life-size T. rex out front of his surgery.
Enthralled by Givenchy and Edith Head gowns in classic Hollywood movies, O’Grady knew he wanted to design couture by the age of four.
“Dad had a client who was a seamstress and I think he swapped some animal care with some sewing lessons,” he recalls.
O’Grady’s outfit was inspired by 1940s burlesque star Lilly Christine.Credit: Connor O’Grady
He trademarked his own name at age eight, and made local headlines at 11 when Sarah Holmes, parent of a Clayfield College classmate and wife of then-Brisbane Lions CEO Malcolm Holmes, commissioned him to design her dress for the Brownlow Medal event.
He was Young Citizen of the Year at the 2019 Lord Mayor’s Australia Day Awards, and off to the London School of Design that same year.
Studying at the alma mater of Jimmy Choo and Ioana Ciolacu, he was no longer the Golden Boy. “You’ve got to love what you do, because they will try and tear you down – in the best way possible. You get a thick skin.”
But the plaudits weren’t long in coming. In his second year, a hat and jewellery he had designed appeared in Vogue Scandinavia.
Drawing upon periods such as Victorian, Georgian and Regency, his work uses unexpected materials such as stucco (on high-heel shoes), Georgian mourning jewellery and, yes, hair.
The Chappell Roan piece has been the talk of the style press, a profile in i-D magazine saying the design “straddled the line between showgirl fantasy and Victorian ghost story”.
Hair being the brief, O’Grady drew cues from 1940s burlesque star Lilly Christine. “She had beads and fringe, a bra-and-skirt sort of silhouette with the big hair – it was fun getting to play around with that.” He made the silk underwear by hand, with the very Chappell Roan-esque addition of rhinestones.
Now based in Islington in London, O’Grady is adding pieces to his current collection – inspired by the French Revolution and titled Decapitation in the mischievous mould of one of his heroes, Alexander McQueen – and pursuing the dream he has had since childhood.
“I’d love to eventually show at London Fashion Week, and have full collections and a shop one day.
“It’s always just so crazy, in fashion, because one day you’re just in your studio making something, and then the next day you’re making an outfit for Chappell Roan.”
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