Daniel Kearns (designer)

Daniel Kearns (born April 15, 1975) is an Irish menswear designer with a master's degree in menswear from the Royal College of Art. He has held menswear designer positions at Emanuel Ungaro and John Galliano, and from 2005-2010 he was Design Director of menswear at Alexander McQueen. Since March 2011, he has been the menswear Design Director at Yves Saint Laurent.

Early career and education

Kearns grew up in Dublin, Ireland. Kearns earned a BA in Fashion Design from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin in 1997, and during his time there, he also completed a tailoring apprenticeship with Louis Copeland.

This fueled Kearns's interest in tailoring, and prompted a move to London in 1997 where he undertook a master's degree in menswear at the Royal College of Art, alongside a research project at the college focused on the development of ergonomic tailoring with intelligent textiles incorporating Shape Memory Alloy. This led to a collaboration with Yorkshire mill Bower Roebuck & Co, who produced samples of the textile.

While at the Royal College of Art, Kearns won a Dolce & Gabbana menswear project in 1998, which resulted in a three-month stint at the fashion house working on both mainline and the D&G line.

After graduating in 2000, Kearns was named Menswear Designer at Emanuel Ungaro, after which he was brought in to help launch John Galliano menswear as Head of Menswear from 2002 until 2005.

Alexander McQueen

Kearns was Design Director of Menswear from 2005 until 2010. During that time, he worked closely with Alexander McQueen on every menswear show until his last show in January 2010, while also developing and expanding the identity of the menswear ready-to-wear and accessories collections, to great critical acclaim.

Louis Vuitton

In January 2010, Kearns was named Designer for the Outdoor Department for Louis Vuitton. Here, he designed a capsule range for the Travel Room entitled ‘Made for Travel’, as well as the L.V. Trophy sea collection.

Yves Saint Laurent

In March 2011, Kearns was hired by Yves Saint Laurent to overlook its menswear collection as Design Director.

Faconnable

In 2014, Kearns was hired by Faconnable to overlook its menswear and womenswear collections as Artistic Director.

Personal life

In 2005 Daniel married Andi Mahony, a former model who is also from Dublin. The couple have two children, Bailey and Beatrice Robyn, and are currently living in Paris.