Amber Keating
Amber Keating founded Common Hours in 2020, inspired by a desire to create something deeply personal.
Common Hours offers a seasonless collection of of timeless pieces, each crafted in exceptional fabrications and deceptively simple silhouettes, exploring the limitless possibilities of clothing. Keating does not conform to the overt, monochromatic minimalism prevalent today; instead, she imagines her pieces as blank canvases for her passions, from literature to music and the figurative arts. The smallest of details are collected and projected onto pieces as one would amass memories, tattoos, and talismans over time. Exceptional fabrications and collaboration are among Keating's close interests, seeking the best-in-class to develop each Common Hours garment.
“We tell a personal story of luxury through the materials we select, the artistic element in our pieces and the biggest luxury of all: time. The time it takes to create, to develop a collaboration or a bespoke print, to cut an exceptional fabric, knit or embroider by hand, to connect with our customer: these are the most important values that form the brand DNA.” —Amber Keating
Thematic ideas around each capsule evolve around times when Keating felt love, anger, or bouts of inspiration, moved by a particular gesture, artwork, or emotion. Sometimes, these passions are translated literally onto garments through laborious placement print, designed to wrap around the body perfectly, or meticulous hand embroidery. At other times, Keating’s memories are subtly woven into the garments: the specific drape of a cowl neck or the shape of an oversized hood, the cocooning feeling of a comforting fabric or the slippery feel of silk against the skin: all these are cornerstones of the unique ethos of Common Hours, designed to intrigue, surprise and delight. Since its launch, the brand has remained boldly underground and highly coveted, favouring private appointments and 1:1 styling sessions.
"I often want to express a sense of urgency, a catharsis, a feeling of freedom and ease. Themes of quiet rebellion, dissent, transgression and antagonism are part of the brand codes and almost always present, often through small details that take something that could be considered traditionally “pretty” into something darker, with a bit of a bend: that’s the kind of beauty I find interesting. A tension between masculine and feminine is something I often turn to. I love the thought of the wearer’s powerful stride revealing a hint of our silk linings, often printed with words by Oscar Wilde.” —Amber Keating