Lynne McCrossan: New-look city is taking its place in fashion world

By Lynne McCrossan
Published on 03/09/2012 12:00

Edinburgh and fashion have never been two words synonymous with one other.

We have been traditional in our tastes and tend to tread carefully around trends. Our Glaswegian cousins pull out all the stops, hosting Style Awards and Scottish Fashion Awards, while Dundee is earning a reputation for rearing the best in emerging talent.

But the wind is changing in Auld Reekie. Firstly model, mogul and mummy Anna Freemantle gave us our first international fashion festival in August.

Designers, artist and photographers from London, Paris and Milan flew in for shows, exhibitions and talks banishing any preconception of how Scotland handles style events.

Mal Burkinshaw, head of fashion at Edinburgh College of Art, has steered the school in a gutsy direction, bringing people such as Carolyn Franklin from All Walks Beyond the Catwalk and Michael Kors to campus. This has led his hard-working students such as Riona Horrox to win menswear graduate of the year at London Graduate Fashion Week.

Then there’s the 
Edinburgh shopping institution that is Jane Davidson reaching its ten year milestone since Sarah, Jane’s daughter, took over.

Her tenure has brought brands such as Erdem, Roksanda Ilincic and Issa exclusively to Scotland.

It’s nice to see our city’s new-found international fashion niche emerging.

FASHION INSIDER

Edinburgh Online Fashion Week is filming the last of its catwalk showcases this Friday in preparation for October’s online fashion debut. For tickets to the show’s recording go to www.edinburghonlinefashionweek.com