This New Design Duo Is Making Velvet Furniture in Candy Colors

Get to know Orior.

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In New Voices, we shine a spotlight on the inspiring up-and-coming talent shaping the future of their respective industries. Consider this the new class of creatives.

Growing up in the U.K. and Ireland, respectively, Jordan Trinci-Lyne, 25, and Ciaran McGuigan, 29, always dreamed of becoming professional football players (à la David Beckham, not Tom Brady). But shortly after meeting at the Savannah College of Art and Design, their paths took a drastic turn. Today, they are at the helm of Orior, a furniture brand on the rise with a brand-new showroom in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood. 

The company isn’t new, per se. McGuigan’s parents, Brian and Rose, founded it after returning to Ireland in 1979 following a stint in Denmark. But the company remained virtually unknown Stateside until McGuigan’s father fell ill in 2013. “I left SCAD and finished my studies online while I took over the business,” remembers McGuigan. Not long after, he introduced the brand to the U.S. market. “We opened a stunning space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2015, and in 2018, we decided to completely rebrand.” 

But back to college for a second. Trinci-Lyne was still studying at SCAD on a soccer scholarship when he fortuitously met McGuigan and started interning with him after his junior year. “As soon as I graduated college, I moved to New York and started working with Orior, where I worked as the liaison between New York and the factories,” he explains. Three years later and he is now the company’s senior designer.

Together, the duo is breathing new life into this multigenerational brand. Every piece is inspired by the past (mainly Brian McGuigan’s archives) and informed by the future: rich jewel-hued velvet sofas with classic lines and modern fringe trim, dining tables that mix lacquered oak and Connemara marble, and leather-wrapped credenzas with solid brass hardware. With Orior rapidly gaining momentum, the duo gave Domino a glimpse into their day-to-day.

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Photography by Meghan McNeer

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Photography by Meghan McNeer

What do you love most about your job?

Ciaran McGuigan: The endless possibility of what we can do and the fact that I get to work with my family and friends. I love that if we have an idea, we literally just visit our shop and start a conversation with experienced hands and we start building. 

Jordan Trinci-Lyne: That I could potentially design something that would influence a trend or, more simply, that I create furniture that people want in their homes. 

What’s your least favorite part of your job?

McGuigan: The travel. I’m here, there, and everywhere, and sometimes it’s nice to be in one place for a minute and collect your thoughts. 

Trinci-Lyne: In a perfect world, I would sit and design all day from start to finish, but that’s not realistic. I have a lot of flexibility at Orior, and it’s amazing to be involved in a lot of different aspects of the brand. But if there was something I would like to do less of, it’s technical drawings. 

If you could start your career over and money was no object, what would you want to be?

McGuigan: Exactly what I am now, a colleague to family and friends creating beautiful products.  

Trinci-Lyne: If I’m honest, I would still want to be a professional footballer. It has been my dream since I can remember and I still play frequently. That said, an interior designer is a close second; I love how much they can affect atmospheres and space.

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Photography by Meghan McNeer

What’s your favorite method of procrastination?  

McGuigan: The BBC sports app or coming up with new ideas. It’s something that inspires me to complete the work I’m procrastinating on so I can move on to better things. 

Trinci-Lyne: I don’t procrastinate a lot, but when I do, I usually find myself doodling in my sketchbook, which can sometimes ignite some inspiration. I also tend to get drawn to Instagram.

What’s the one thing you’re pretty much guaranteed to do every day?

McGuigan: Have a cup of Irish Breakfast tea and a few biscuits.

Trinci-Lyne: One thing I do every day is to grab a coffee with a couple of my colleagues from the contract team. It’s been a tradition since I started at Orior. I think it’s essential to have that 20 minutes in the morning to catch up and see what each of us is up to. Even though we don’t work together, it’s interesting to hear their perspectives.

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Photography by Meghan McNeer

What excites you right now in design? 

McGuigan: Color and material. Everything feels so muted these days, though, and I love that we can stray from that. My father’s archive of 200-plus designs inspires me to create new pieces. I love the mix of old-world charm with our aspiration for creating timeless designs for contemporary living.    

Trinci-Lyne: Nothing, really. My primary source of inspiration would probably be the pieces that we have recently designed, along with [McGuigan’s dad] Brian’s designs. I think it is important to understand our roots, to remember where we came from, and to see the evolution of what Orior has become to create a balance. 

What’s a trend you wish would disappear forever?

McGuigan: Good things take time, like a slow-cooked barbecue. This trend of having to continually put stuff out there and create content to keep up in an already oversaturated market dilutes integrity. I prefer quality over quantity.

Trinci-Lyne: A lot of brands right now are manufacturing things that have been around for a long time (like mattresses and toothbrushes) and rebranding them, which seems to catch the attention of people. Creativity isn’t at its highest at the moment, in my opinion. 

What is your dream project?

McGuigan: I’d love to open an Orior boutique hotel, where every room would be designed by us. It would give our brand an excuse to dapple in a new territory of design.  

What’s next for Orior in 2019?

McGuigan: We’re going to reintroduce the Shanog, Orior’s first-ever sofa, and few more key pieces: coffee tables, mirrors, dining chairs, etc.

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Gabrielle Savoie

Writer/Editor

Gabrielle is most often found digging through 1stdibs in search of Tobia Scarpa sofas, hunting down the newest cool hotels, or singing the praises of Art Nouveau. She spends an inordinate amount of time looking at real estate floor plans and listening to podcasts. In her free time, you’ll likely find her bouncing on a trampoline at Fithouse, snacking on a crudo at the latest cocktail bar, antiquing for French silverware, or dogsitting for anyone who will ask—yes, even you.