It was only later when I took them out of the cardboard wrap did I notice the packaging design, and thinking it looked familiar I took a closer look and realised that it was indeed a limited-edition Orla Kiely pattern.

Errm really on a yoghurt pot? Now don’t get me wrong, as yoghurts go they are one of my favourite ones – in fact if you remember Ski Yoghurts and miss that distinctive taste and texture, then try the Strawberry one, it’s the closest I’ve found. I digress though, let’s go back to the pot. It looked great and when I dug the cardboard wrapper out of the recycling bin to take a closer look, I loved the retro feel design they had used on this Orla Kiely version.

.. but as much as I loved how it looked, I couldn’t see the point of it. It hadn’t encouraged me to buy the yoghurts as I had already bought them by the time I had realised, and on a disposable product it just felt like a waste and that made me sad on two levels;

• should I do something with the pot other than just throw it away?
• .. and with yet another stretch of the brand, where would they appear next?

We now know the answer to where they appeared next. In the headlines when news broke last month that the business had collapsed. I’m not blaming the collaboration with a dairy product, but reading the industry commentators view points in the press in the days and weeks following the administration news, it does seem like the saturation of the distinctive design style on everything meant that the brand had lost its way and its individualism that attracted so many of us in the first place. This was summed up by a comment that has stuck with me ‘.. and who wants to go to a party wearing the same print as the toaster in the kitchen?’ (Jan Moir).

Post yoghurt pot incident, and pre the news of the business collapse, I went to the Life in Pattern exhibition in London and loved it; the history, the pattern boards, the dresses, THAT handbag wall. I reminisced, I saw designs I’d never seen before, I wistfully looked at the shoes and like many others chose my favourite bag.

My exhibition souvenir tea towel was barely out of its bag when the news broke. From being initially shocked, and then not surprised, I’m now disappointed that the wrong decisions or advice were taken to have led to this demise, and that as a result so many people were affected with the loss of their jobs and unpaid salaries and invoices.

I want to remember, and continue to enjoy Orla Kiely designs from my memories of the exhibition, and those of a time many years ago when I was first introduced to her designs (thank you L), of my delight in the many times I’ve been able to ‘spot’ one of her designs (or ones that had been influenced by her style), and remembering my utter joy when I bought a pair of her shoes (and all the times I’ve worn them since).