Designer Ciarán Sweeney's approach to fashion and interiors is to keep it simple and clever, writes EMMA CULLINAN

Ciarán Sweeney studied at the NCAD and was an art teacher before he set up his own studio in Dublin. He also has a shop at CHQ in the Dublin docklands and a studio in Paris. The clothes he designs have been worn by people such as Elton John, Madonna and Kylie Minogue and he produces the NCAD degree fashion show. He splits his time between Paris and Donnybrook, Dublin, living in homes belonging to other people.

You live in both Paris and Dublin, how do the two cities compare?

It is fascinating, the difference in the attitude to home and life in the two places, both of which I adore – and both cultures could pick up from each other.

In Paris most people rent their homes. I know only two people there who own their properties. The Irish, when they rent, do so for shorter periods and don’t consider it as their own and so don’t put their mark on it. The law in France is very much in favour of the tenant and that gives people a sense of security. Some will live their whole lives in the one rented home.

There is a different attitude in France – and it is coming back in Ireland – where your work time is your work time, which involves all the stresses that come with it, and then time after work is about family, friends and quality of life.

More people in Ireland are starting to look at their home as a sanctuary.

You have the fire lit here

Your home should be a very grounding place. It is not about ownership or money. In the last few years people would say, my house is worth this or that, but they would never use the word “home”.

As an artist and maker of things my priority in life is colour, texture and a sense of wellbeing. Appreciation of beauty is more my agenda in life than ownership of buildings and cars. I’m quite happy on my bike and with the whole rent concept.

Last time I came back to Dublin from Paris, a few weeks ago, I was amazed at how people seemed so down, it was like arriving in Latvia in 1972.

The French don’t seem as panicked about the recession but maybe that is because it is a rental culture and not so many people buy property – although someone obviously owns the buildings that they rent. I don’t understand the economics but perhaps the French people weren’t as exposed in the downturn because of that.

Where do you live in Paris?

In a two-bedroom apartment in Avenue de Wagram just off the Champs-Elysées. It is nicer to live opposite a beautiful building than in one and I look onto a beautiful façade in Paris. I lived in a flat in George’s Street years ago which was opposite the elaborate, ornate red South City Markets building. My apartment in Paris is very simple; with two bedrooms and a winding staircase up to a little loo, kitchen and bathroom.

How do you create a sense of home in two different places?

Wherever I am, a piece of my work gives me a sense of place. I can easily take my cushions and throws with me (we also do hand-painted curtains). The cushion designs are about creating texture and colour and being good to relax on. I put messages on them. I draw out everything first, including the unicorns, Celtic imagery, quotes from people like Frank Sinatra and Doris Day, and Renaissance designs: as a traveller I pick up ideas. Personality is very important in me and my work and it is very strong in my customers. They include Moya Brennan, Amanda Brunker and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh from Altan. Jackie Collins is even a fan and I have a priest customer who likes black cushions. So the customers are very varied but they all have strong personalities, sometimes a certain eccentricity and a bit of theatre.

The president (Mary McAleese) wore one of my scarves for Clinton’s visit and she told me that she puts it on a chair in her office which is a clever thing to do: when you are not wearing something you don’t have to put it away in a cupboard, you can still get enjoyment out of it, perhaps by using it thrown on a bed.

Interiors trends have more closely followed fashion trends in recent years: do you find that your clothes go over into your interiors?

I ignore trends because they are created by the industry and are a conspiracy to sell. I do my own thing in life.

But you have a lot of turquoise which is in this season.

I’ve always done turquoise because it is very calming and if you live far from the sea a turquoise throw can give you a sense of it.

What is in at the moment is accessories, with people looking at a neckscarf or necklaces to make an outfit brighter and to give it a twist. You can do the same in your home.

When people come to the shop I try to get a sense of who they are and their story. Where fashion and interiors dovetail is when they give a sense of who someone is.

Does your home explain you?

It’s my story and everyone has their story. Putting together an interior shouldn’t be about creating an impression, which is what people have been trying to do.

Now people are aware that comfort and wellbeing are more important and will give them a balance in life – whether their home is rented or their own is irrelevant.

You have your shop in CHQ: is it different to creating a home space?

It is different but there are design approaches that apply to both. It is about the distribution of colour and texture across the space. I try to block the colour and will display emeralds and blues together but here, on the sofa at home, I’ve mixed up a hotchpotch, an Irish stew of colours. The thing I try to do is get people to go against their first thought or the commercial thought which would be, say, to put cream with brown. I’ll say, ‘why don’t you try lime green with brown?’

A clash, for certain customers, can work really well.

People have a tendency to complicate things in their homes. They can be overly influenced by trends and it dates very quickly.

I had a lecturer in college years ago who said that the two most important things in design are to be simple and clever, and that can apply to life too.

www.ciaransweeney.com