Designer ties up onscreen appeal

Seven years ago, a Fife-based textile designer, Jane Keith, started producing her own unique printed silk ties commercially but now sees them sported by men in all sorts of high places.

The lecturer in printed textiles was recently watching Friends at home when she noticed Chandler, played by Matthew Perry, wearing one of her ties, which retail for 50-70. She has also spotted Snow wearing one as he announced the historic news of Saddam Hussein’s capture, David Dimbleby when presenting Question Time and can also count Lenny Henry among her clients.

Ms Keith said she put down the secret of their appeal to the fact that each tie she made was unique because of her small- scale production methods.

She said: "The vast majority of British males wear either something undemanding from the High Street, or, heaven forbid, something from the novelty-tie department.

"I am pleased people like Jon Snow are demonstrating that a tie can be worth putting some effort into.

"Each tie is made of 100 per cent silk and is part of an individual batch of 20 or 30 that are made at one time. Because of the pigmentation, which creates different tones, and aluminium ink, no two ties are exactly the same.

"Although they are therefore pitched at the high-end of the market, wearers know they have something unique that is not mass produced, which is maybe why they crop up a lot on television.

"I also try and make sure that the top two-thirds of the tie is different, so often the knot will look different from the rest of it, which might appeal to someone like Jon Snow.

"I started the company in 1997 when I was just making them for my father and was approached to do more. We have plans to expand our website and at the moment most of our business comes through trade shows and art galleries. In Edinburgh we sell at the Scottish Gallery on Dundas Street.

"The ties are also appearing a lot on the television show Taggart at the moment for some reason."

Snow said: "I was lucky enough to discover her and her ties at the Chelsea Craft show and have been a convert ever since.

"It would not be an exaggeration to describe her as a star in the tie firmament, because what she produces are so beautiful and strident.

"My particular favourite is one that is electric pinky purple and blue but I can’t get enough of them and shall probably buy some more.

"I am glad to be in such good company as shown by the list of other devotees of her work."

Ms Keith makes her fabric in her Fife studio and then sends them to a tie manufacturer, often enlisting the help of art students from the University of Dundee during holidays.

The designs themselves are drawn from mainly natural influences.

The horizon lines, fields, fences, rocks, and the sea are some of the main recurring influences used to create simple patterns, stripes and seasonal colour schemes.

All the ties are 100 per cent silk and are coloured using mainly acid dyes. These are then overprinted and layered up using a variety of printing techniques, giving each design group a distinctive feel.

The designs themselves are drawn from mainly natural influences, such as the Western Isles, where rock and ocean inspire grey-blacks and blue-greens.

Ms Keith qualified as a Bachelor of Design in Printed Textiles from the University of Dundee where she still works part-time as a tutor. She exhibits much of her work at the Chelsea Crafts Fair in London.

She added that she had ambitions to expand her business on the back of her success.

"At the moment we only have one full-time worker apart from me, but the students from Dundee do help us out during the holidays too," she added. "That will change but as I have a five-month old baby it will be subject to that.

"It is great to see how far and wide the ties have got to now as we are a small local business but because we produce something unique it helps to keep our products in demand.

"Seeing your work on such famous television shows as Friends was exciting to say the least. Although it probably was not chosen on purpose Jon Snow did wear one of my ties on the day that Saddam Hussein was captured so it felt a little bit historical. We will continue to expand our range of what we do but keeping them individual."