Scottish Style Awards: The nominees revealed

SHE is the new generation of Scotland’s most famous Gaelic dynasty … but the daughter of singer Fiona Kennedy and granddaughter of the late “king of the Highlands” Calum Kennedy has shunned music in favour of acting.

Star of Filth, Pollyanna McIntosh. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

And now starring roles in two major films to be released within a few weeks of each other have helped put Sophie Kennedy Clark in the running for the title of Scotland’s “most stylish female”.

Aberdeen-born Clark, one of the stars of heartwarming drama Philomena alongside Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, is one of the nominees for a Scottish Style Award, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

Clark could collect the award at a ceremony in Glasgow just months before her next film is released in the UK – the Lars von Triers’ erotic drama Nymphomaniac, in which she stars with Uma Thurman, Willem Dafoe, Christian Slater, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jamie Bell and Shia LaBeouf. The film is tipped to be one of the most controversial of 2014.

The actress, who has successfully combined an acting career with modelling for fashion giant Burberry, trained at the New York Film Academy and first came to prominence playing David Tennant’s character’s eldest daughter in the television­drama Single Father.

But Clark faces competition for the most stylish ­female accolade from fellow actress Pollyanna McIntosh, who recently starred as a police force colleague of James McAvoy’s corrupt Edinburgh detective in the film Filth.

Former model McIntosh, from ­Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire, has recently starred with Brian Cox in the BBC comedy Bob Servant Independent and has just filmed thriller White ­Settlers, which is set in the Scottish Borders. Her style awards nomination is a far cry from her lead role as a cannibal in the American horror The Woman, a hit at the Sundance Film ­Festival two years ago. Completing a trio of film stars nominated for the main style categories at the awards – which will be held at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow next month – is one of McIntosh’s Filth co-stars, Martin Compston, who is in the running to be named most stylish male of the year.

Compston, a former footballer cast by director Ken Loach to play the lead role in gritty drama Sweet Sixteen despite having no acting experience, started the year portraying gangster Paul Ferris on film, a hard-hitting role thought to have him in the running for a Scottish Bafta.

Now he will be rubbing shoulders with the host of stars expected at Kelvingrove on the night, including former Oasis legend Noel Gallagher, whose Edinburgh-born PR guru wife Sara MacDonald is up for most stylish woman, bands Glasvegas and Chvrches, singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt, and Formula One test driver Susi Wolff.

Other contenders for most stylish male include Highlander Michael Bonsor, one of the stars of the BBC’s Inside Claridge’s series, who has just taken over a luxury Rosewood hotel in London after an £85 million revamp. Edinburgh-born Savile Row tailor Patrick Grant, a judge on the Great British Sewing Bee TV show, has also been nominated

The Scottish Style Awards, now a biennial event, were launched in 2005 by businesswoman Mary McGowne and have since gone on to become one of the most high-profile showcases for the creative industries in Scotland.

The awards, which will have separate categories for designers and men’s and women’s fashion for the first time, also recognise the nation’s most stylish bands and musicians, hotels, retailers, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Previous winners include actor Robert Carlyle, singers Shirley Manson, Sharleen Spiteri and KT Tunstall, Michelin-starred chef Martin Wishart, DJ Calvin Harris and fashion designers Jonathan Saunders, Christopher Kane and Vivienne Westwood.

Among the fashion industry names singled out for this year’s event are: Edinburgh-based Judy Clark, who has worked for the late Alexander McQueen and singer Emeli Sandé; Dingwall design guru Henrietta Ludgate, an “ethical fashion” pioneer thanks to her use of recycled fabrics; Lanarkshire-born jewellery designer Dauvit Alexander, the man behind the brand Justified Sinner; Edinburgh kilt-maker Howie Nicholsby; and Deetz, a new label set up by Ayrshire sisters Lauren Milligan and Amy Currie.

Whitefalls Spa Lodges, luxury accommodation on the Isle of Lewis, is up for the most stylish hotel award, along with Aldourie Castle, on the banks of Loch Ness, the Loch Lomond Arms Hotel, the Mhor 84 Motel at Balquhidder, Stirlingshire, and Citizen M in Glasgow.

The new £125m SSE Hydro concert arena in Glasgow is up for the most stylish venue award just weeks after opening its doors, while Tom ­Kitchin’s Scran & Scallie pub in Edinburgh is competing for best restaurant after just a few months in business.

McGowne said: “We couldn’t be happier or more honoured to be celebrating the style and creativity of our incredible nominees at this year’s Scottish Style Awards.

“Style, and specifically Scottish style, is almost indefinable but one thing is certain, each and every one of the finalists has it in spades.

“We should be proud to know there are so many inspirational fellow Scots out there busy doing their thing, working internationally, and representing the face of modern Scotland. Over the years we have staged so many memorable Scottish Style Awards at iconic Kelvingrove, and in this our ninth year I can guarantee it’s set to be the best yet.

“We can’t wait to welcome so many friends back home to Scotland for the nation’s most stylish night of the year.”

Nominees in full

Most Stylish Restaurant: Castle Terrace, Edinburgh; Central Market, Glasgow; Ondine, Edinburgh; Scran & Scallie, Edinburgh; The Jefferson, Kilmarnock

Most Stylish Bar: Black Bird, Edinburgh; The Finnieston, Glasgow; Lucky Liquor, Edinburgh; Scotch@The Balmoral, Edinburgh; The Hill, Glasgow, above

Most Stylish Hotel: Aldourie Castle Estate, Loch Ness; citizenM, Glasgow; Loch Lomond Arms Hotel, Luss; Mhor 84 Motel, Balquhidder; Whitefalls Spa Lodges, Breasclete, Isle of Lewis

Most Stylish Entertainment Venue: SSE Hydro, Glasgow; Kokomo, Glasgow; Royal Yacht Britannia, Edinburgh; The Berkeley Suite, Glasgow; The Riverside Museum, Glasgow

Most Stylish Retailer: Emporio Armani, Glasgow & Edinburgh; Cruise, Glasgow; Miu Miu, Glasgow; Strathberry of Scotland, Edinburgh; Walker Slater, Edinburgh

Most Stylish Male: Dauvit Alexander; Martin Compston, right; Michael Bonsor; Patrick Grant; Howie Nicholsby

Most Stylish Female: Sophie Kennedy Clark; Susie Wolff; Arielle Free; Sara MacDonald; Pollyanna McIntosh

Most Stylish Band/Musician: Chvrches; Éclair Fifi; Glasvegas; The Cuban Brothers; Nina Nesbitt

Womenswear Designer of the Year: Henrietta Ludgate, left; Philip Colbert for The Rodnik Band; Judy Clark; Aimee McWilliams; Deetz

Menswear Designer of the Year:

Patrick Grant for E.Tautz; Kenneth McKenzie for 6876; Cathal McAteer for Folk; Gianni Collarossi for Duchamp; Kestin Hare for Common People

• The Scottish Style Awards will be held on 9 November

Twitter: @brianjaffa