Fashion’s sporran legion!
Scotland’s style has long been a muse for the biggest names in the world of clothing
THE delightfully eccentric Tilda Swinton loves tartan – but the Oscar-winning actress is Scottish, and therefore biased. Yet her great admirer, the German fashion maestro Karl lagerfeld who has just made her the face of Chanel’s ‘ Scottish’ collection, also professes to adore it.
So do Moschino, Katharine Hamnett, Vivienne Westwood, Prada, Missoni, Versace, Miu Miu and Dolce & Gabbana. As far as the world’s fashion designers are concerned, tartan is the new black – and they continue to be inspired by its unique appeal.
We Scots may confine tartan to shortbread tins, Highland games and those picturesque little calendars much loved by Granny, but it takes on a whole new appeal when draped around the beautiful shoulders of top models such as Cara Delevingne and Naomi Campbell.
Italian fashion giant Moschino has just unveiled its autumn- winter collection for next year in Milan – a veritable parade of mini-kilts, tartan trews, jackets, loveheart sporrans and Glengarry-style hats.
And Moschino’s new garments are following in a long tradition of drawing on the colourful and ancient history of a cloth that has graced many a Scottish male knee for centuries.
Chanel, Westwood, Hamnett and Burberry Prorsum have been admirers since the early 1990s and tartan is featured in their current collections. Now up-and- coming US designer Corrie Nielson has drawn on her Scottish roots to inspire her extravagant and dramatic fashions.
The textiles sector remains an important contributor to Scotland’s economy, with an annual turnover of £770million and exports worth £295million each year.
And the industry is certain to receive another boost with the news that Miss Swinton has been chosen to front Chanel’s latest Métiers d’Art collection. The 52-year- old actress from Nairn was chosen by Chanel creative director lagerfeld to participate in promoting the French fashion house’s Paris-Edimbourg collection.
In doing so, she maintains a Scottish connection that began when lagerfeld unveiled the stunning Chanel collection at a spectacular show in linlithgow Palace, West lothian, back in December.
He said: ‘Tilda perfectly embodies the Paris-Edimbourg collection. She is, of course, Scottish – but more than that she is a modern woman, a timeless icon of elegance.’