Fashion illustrator & founder of QIREL.

Olivia Reed · Fashion Illustrator, Style Editor & Founder

Hi, I’m Olivia.

I’ve always loved clothes.

The shapes.
The colours.
The way one small detail can completely change an outfit.

For years, fashion was also part of my creative work: sketching, collecting references, building moodboards and paying far too much attention to why some outfits simply felt right.

Less clothes. Better choices. More style.

Olivia Reed, fashion illustrator and founder of QIREL, in a black and white portrait — Olivia ReedFounder & Illustrator

One slightly ridiculous problem

My own wardrobe wasn’t working.

I had plenty of clothes. Not because I was a compulsive shopper, but because of the small purchases that quietly add up:

this could look good.
it’s on sale.
it’s in fashion.
I’ll wear it one day.

Plenty of interesting pieces individually. Very few that worked together.

And somehow, every morning

“I have nothing to wear.”

A wardrobe full of clothes, and still standing in front of it with no idea what to put on.

I didn’t need more clothes. I needed to understand the ones I already had.

The turning point

A smaller home. A better question.

When I moved into a smaller home, there simply wasn’t room for everything. So instead of asking what I wanted to keep, I started asking something much more useful.

What do I like?
What did I pay for?
What do I actually wear?

The answer surprised me. I kept reaching for the same pieces.

What I actually wore

The same jeans
Two pairs of trousers
A few shirts
One blazer
Three knits
One pair of shoes

The clothes that earned their place weren’t necessarily the most exciting pieces in my wardrobe.

They were the ones that worked. And the ones I felt best in.

wardrobe notes

works with 4 bottomskeep
only wear with one thing?
great colour, wrong fitlet go
would buy againkeep
never actually reach for thislet go

Little sketches, small combinations, colours in the margin.

The most illustrator solution possible

So I started drawing my wardrobe.

Not a spreadsheet. A notebook. I began sketching the pieces I wore most, then combining them. Changing the shoes. Adding a jacket. Removing something. Trying another proportion.

And suddenly I could see my wardrobe differently. Not as individual clothes. As combinations.

Patterns

I found my formulas.

Nothing revolutionary. But that was the point. Great everyday style didn’t need to be complicated. The pieces just needed to work together.

Formula 01Blazer+Tee+Jeans

Formula 02Shirt+Trousers+Loafers

Formula 03Knit+Skirt+Flats

“What do I wear today?”→“Which formula do I want today?”

The second problem

Then I stopped rebuilding my wardrobe every season.

I could simplify my wardrobe. But the seasons kept changing, and I didn’t want four different wardrobes. So I started looking at what could stay, what could layer, what needed to rotate, and which colours connected one season to the next.

StaysThe pieces that work all year, whatever the weather.

LayersWhat goes over, under and on top when it turns cold.

RotatesWhat gets stored for a while and comes back later.

One additionThe small thing that makes everything feel different again.

Spring didn’t need an entirely new wardrobe. Neither did autumn. One wardrobe. Four seasons.

Shopping changed too

I still love clothes. I just stopped buying automatically.

QIREL isn’t about removing the joy from fashion. It’s about making better decisions. I stopped asking “Do I like this?” and started asking “Will I actually wear this?”

Slowly, fewer things entered my wardrobe. And strangely, I started enjoying my clothes more.

Does this fill a real gap?
Can I wear it at least three ways?
Does it work with my actual life?
Do I like the garment, or the idea of myself wearing it?
Would I still want it if it wasn’t on sale?

That became QIREL

The notebooks became guides. The sketches became illustrations.

Friends kept saying “you should make this into something.” They had the same full wardrobes, the same barely-worn purchases and the same complicated mornings. So the little systems I’d built for myself became a four-part collection.

Build it