In the old days, a Scottish fashion event might go something like this: guests
would arrive and sit on chairs borrowed from the canteen. After a long wait,
“models” would traipse out in ill-fitting, badly hemmed, often asymmetrical
garments. At least one “designer” would have decorated their collection with
bottle tops, telephone wire or mud. A fortnight later, there would be a
half-hearted finale, everyone would clap nervously and they'd leave, vowing
to continue buying their clothes from high-street shops.
But that kind of night is now as passé as shoulder pads and shaggy perms. The
Scottish Fashion Awards, started by the entrepreneur Tessa Hartmann in 2006
and set to take over Stirling Castle next month, are now so highly rated
that Vogue has signed up as an official partner this year. Daphne Guinness,
the heiress, millionairess, fashion icon and adviser to Valentino, is
joining the industry heavyweights on the judging panel. Louise Roe, formerly
of Vogue TV and soon to be seen presenting a new BBC fashion series, will
compere on the night.
Scotland is enjoying a moment in the fashion sun. Our two golden boys,
Christopher Kane and Jonathan Saunders, are stocked in the world's most
important stores, featured in the glossiest magazines and worshipped by the
high street. Both have designed for Topshop and have seen their ideas
borrowed and reworked by every other big store. Ruffles and animal-print
chiffon are just two of the summer trends that started life on Kane's
catwalk.
Behind Kane and Saunders there is a raft of other designers producing
everything from Opal Fruit-coloured coats to ornate, hand-embellished
tights. With this burst of creative talent and retail activity, Edinburgh
College of Art is planning to establish a Scottish Academy of Fashion, and
the annual award ceremony, where patriotism and partying are rolled into
one, has become a glittering social occasion.
Dolly Jones, editor of Vogue.com, has been watching the award ceremony grow
over the past three years and is convinced that the time is right for
Scotland to showcase its fashion talent to the rest of the world.
“Last year I sat next to Chris Kane at the Central Saint Martins degree show .
I asked him to point out his favourites and he laughed and said, 'Well,
they're all fellow countrymen.' And sure enough, there was Louise Gray,
Scott Ramsay Kyle and Jamie Bruski Tetsill. Scotland is the place to find it
all.” While these stars of the future have all moved south to study at Saint
Martins, alma mater of John Galliano and Alexander McQueen, and are more
than able to compete for attention on the London stage, Jones sees no good
reason not to drink to their success on their home turf.
“Fashion weeks are springing up all over the world. They find the best in the
world and celebrate each region. Scotland has these huge talents who can
operate on the world stage. Why not celebrate where they're from? It would
be missing a trick not to.” Jones says a new, hard-headed approach to the
industry has been central to recent Scottish success. Deryck Walker, for
example, who has been around longer than Kane and Saunders, has long been
recognised by cognoscenti for his sculptural menswear, but has struggled to
make it work financially. Now, under the wing of Yellowdoor, the company run
by the retail guru Mary Portas of Mary Queen of Shops, he is moving out of
the struggling avant garde into the more commercial end of the left field.
“Talent speaks louder than a diva attitude,” says Jones. “Jonathan Saunders
makes incredibly beautiful clothes and has Anna Wintour [editor-in-chief of
American Vogue] in the front row at his shows, but the business side of his
company is to the forefront. You've got to think with a business mind. He
and Kane are relatively new to the scene, yet they show new and aspiring
designers that they can do it. They set a good example of how to succeed.
They both also work really, really hard.
“As the appetite for fashion increases and crosses over into the high street,
people understand that it's more than vacuous girls and boys talking about
what to wear tonight, it's a huge money-making, job-generating, global
industry. VisitScotland should be capitalising on fashion - there is a hell
of a lot of fashion in Scotland and Tessa Hartmann understands that. She has
led rather than followed.” Hartmann, who runs a PR agency in Glasgow,
founded the event, she says, “out of patriotism and a love of fashion - it
certainly wasn't to make money”. She sees fashion as one of the tent poles
of the Scottish economy, alongside technology and banking. “I would like to
see the government pick this up and take it round the world,” she says.
“Fashion is the fourth biggest employer in the UK, it employs 22,000 in
Scotland and it is a major force in the economy. I want to give our
designers a platform and applaud them.” Last year, the Scottish government
gave the event £20,000 and sent the culture minister, Linda Fabiani, along.
This year Hartmann expects to receive £5,000 (plus funding from Stirling
council and Scottish Enterprise). She has invited Fabiani and Alex Salmond,
but they have yet to RSVP. “I'd love him to come,” she says. “He should be
there.” Last year's offer, to be dressed in the finest outfits the Scottish
fashion industry has to offer, was politely turned down.
Realising that few politicians know their cone heels from their mini-crinis,
she is also setting up a Scottish Fashion Council. “It will give the public
bodies and the government the tools they need to operate in the world of
fashion. It will tell them how to sell fashion from Scotland.” In the
meantime, Hartmann is shouldering the job of selling what she has dubbed
“Cool Caledonia” herself. For her, seeing the event reported by the likes of
Vanity Fair and Russian Vogue is reward enough. Which is just as well: she
is frightened to work out exactly what the Scottish Fashion Awards cost to
produce. “Luckily, I have my own business, which has sustained the growth of
the event. We have all the tools in the company to make it work. If a client
asked me to replicate the event and quote a price, it would be phenomenal.
They would never be able to afford it.” The Scottish Fashion Awards take
place at Stirling Castle on June 29. For more details, visit
www.scottishfashionawards.com Jamie Bruski Tetsill The tongue-twisting name
on the cognoscenti's lips, Tetsill was nominated in the new talent of the
year category at last year's Scottish Fashion Awards. The 26-year-old
graduated from Glasgow School of Art with a degree in textiles before
postgraduate study at Central Saint Martins. His graduate collection wowed
London Fashion Week and his zinging colours and layered tailoring have
already featured in Vogue. He uses tartan and checks, and mixes mustard,
orange and electric blue with more muted tones to great effect.
Graeme Black Not exactly a new face, but an established talent back in the UK
after 15 years in Italy working for Armani and Ferragamo. Black, who has an
impressive range of international stockists for his high-octane, elegant
evening wear, showed his collection at London Fashion Week for the first
time this year. His Scottish roots were much in evidence, with home-spun
fabrics, Celtic embroidery and leather quilted to resemble Aran knitwear.
Scott Ramsay Kyle From the parched fashion desert that is Glasgow's Cardonald
College (via Glasgow School of Art and Central Saint Martins) comes Scott
Ramsay Kyle. He dubs himself an “embroiderer and designer” and his dramatic
dresses deploy wild colours, long fringes and plenty of artful needlework.
His embroidery skills are in demand on a freelance basis and he has worked
with Boudicca and Emma Cook.
Louise Gray Born in Fraserburgh, 26-year-old Gray also went from Cardonald
College to Glasgow School of Art, then Central Saint Martins. She fell in
love with the embroidery archive at Glasgow School of Art and adorns her
dresses with bold collage and cutwork. She has worked for Lanvin and Peter
Jensen. Named new talent of the year at the 2007 Scottish Fashion Awards,
her collection is stocked by Liberty in London.
