About Irenee

I think one of the magic things about childhood is that it allows you to explore creativity without even knowing that's what you're doing. Playing and creating goes hand in hand when you're a kid.  You don’t question it.  And then life reshapes itself into adulthood, with its duties and responsibilities and maybe you feel like you must conform in some way to 'make it all work'.
For me, the instinct to play and create never quietened. I found the 'Playing and Creating' natural territory and couldn't see that creation could become my occupation.

Fashion, design, music, and the arts became my way of following that thread — exploring different eras, mixing vintage pieces with things I had designed myself.
This path took me into the Benson & Hedges Fashion Awards, and later the Smoke-Free Fashion Awards, but gave me the confidence to enter into the rag trade. I started my own label, (This is a pic of me in one of my Suits) and later worked for a larger company designing knitwear.

As the industry shifted, so did I — with manufacturing changing and cheaper imports flooding in, the financial pressure of that world began to outweigh the space needed to create freely. I stepped back. I focused on earning a living, while quietly keeping my creative pulse alive.

Fast-forward to now, that pulse never stopped. Over the years I’ve continued designing, studying art history, taking a Fashion Illustration course and continuing with Portraiture and then discovering a whole universe of digital creative tools.

All of this has led to ArtiCat Studios — a space where my creative curiosity can live freely.