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French fashion powerhouse Chanel recently hosted it’s annual Metiers d’Arts show at Linlithgow Palace just outside of Edinburgh, showcasing a contemporary interpretation of traditional Scottish crafts and tartan.
Creative director Karl Lagerfeld’s collection combined elements of gothic grandeur with tartan, tweed, sporrans, argyle socks and brogues, coloured with a rich earthy palette. The show ended with a nod to the palace’s most famous resident Mary Queen of Scots, as models glided past braziers and fountains in regal high collared gowns.
Scotland provided a heavy inspiration for house-founder Coco Chanel who championed the appropriation of menswear as womenswear. This design philosophy popularised active, casual chic in the 1920s, liberating women from the confines of the corseted silhouette. During her stays in Scotland with the Duke of Westminster between 1924 and 1931, Chanel took to borrowing the Duke’s tweeds for her long walks in the countryside. Photos from this time show her dressed in men’s attire including tweed jackets, cashmere cardigans, trousers and sturdy boots, with several dogs in tow. Chanel gathered leaves, moss and earth from her walks, which were taken to the local tweedmaker so he could incorporate the colours into the weave. Fabrics from this mill were shipped to Paris and made into perhaps her most iconic creation, the two piece tweed suit.
The Linlithgow showcase also confirmed Chanel’s continuing legacy in Scotland who have recently acquired Hawick-based Barrie Knitwear, longtime manufacturer of Chanel cashmere. The deal saved 176 jobs, threatened with closure after the mill’s owner went bankrupt in August.
A gallery of the showcase can be viewed here.
Coco Chanel with friend Vera Bate at Lochmore
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To say the Harris Tweed Industry has taken it’s fair few knocks in recent years is probably an understatement. In an attempt to bring new blood into the aging workforce twelve people are to be trained as weavers of Harris Tweed. This course was created after concerns were made by the Members of the Harris Tweed Liaison Group, which includes Western Isles councillors. The course has been developed by Cardonald College in Glasgow
The 12 new trainees will start later this month. The course will be based on the remote Scottish island of Stornoway.
An SVQ Level 1 in manufacturing textile products qualification has been adapted for Harris Tweed weavers.
Angus Campbell, chairman of the Harris Tweed Industry Forum, said he was delighted the trainee weaver project had reached the course stage.
He said: “There has been no formal mechanism for training new weavers over the past decade or so.
“This project has been essential in putting in place a structure to ensure new entrants to the industry meet an appropriate standard, which recognises the skills and craftsmanship required of Harris Tweed weavers.”
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