Over the past two years, we have had the pleasure of working with Glasgow Caledonian University students as part of their industry live projects. This year we collaborated with second year Fashion Design with Business students. The students were asked to use accents of our Mist tartans in a two piece garment with the aim to bring tartan to a new audience.
The project began with the students taking a visit to our flagship store in Glasgow’s city centre. We really enjoyed showing the budding designers around our kilt shop and letting them see our Mist tartans for the first time. Earlier this year, our marketing team was invited to the university to see the students' final presentations. These included all of the students’ research, sketches and design ideas. We were so impressed with their creativity and sheer number of ideas, using everything from album covers and architecture to Formula One and graffiti as inspiration.
Next up, we saw the designers’ outfits come to life on the catwalk. We loved that each designer used our tartan in their own way, some with subtle trims and accents and others with eye catching pleats and panels. Here at MacGregor and MacDuff we champion contemporary Scottish style and so were delighted to see this high-fashion take on highlandwear.
With so many brilliant designs to choose from, it wasn’t an easy task to pick a winner. Our team agreed that Katie Chrystal’s unique and intricate outfit was our favourite. Katie managed to create a seamless blend between traditional Scottish dress and Japanese style, which was one of her main visual references. The outfit is made up of a shirt and skirt, incorporating kilt style pleats. We were so impressed that Katie took on the tricky task of kilt pleating and how great the final outfit looked! The designer chose to use our Harris Mist tartan which complimented her navy and gold colour scheme perfectly. Well done Katie, we can’t wait to see what you do next!
Katie’s design is now on display in the window of our flagship store on Bath Street. Her outfit stands alongside her research and development presentation. It’s great to see how Katie took her initial design influence from Japan and blended this with elements of Scottish style. You can also see Katie’s sketches and some of her other designs.
If you are in the city centre in the coming weeks, make sure to take a wander past our striking display. A huge thank you to Glasgow Caledonian University for having us onboard and to the talented students for all of their hard work.