New York, London, Milan, Paris? So last season! It's time to spotlight less discussed design centres. This time, Dundee, which is home the two emerging menswear designers you're about to meet - both recent graduates from the Jimmy Choo Academy.

First we'll hear from Sasha Clegg, whom with a wink, called her label The English Man. Despite being neither. She chose the name to call out the pale, male-dominated fashion industry. Sasha, who is of Zambian and Scottish descent, wants to "celebrate multiculturalism, heritage, diversity, and inclusivity." Her graduate collection, titled Mother’s Tongue, blends inspiration from her Scottish upbringing with nods to English football culture, and features kilts, tartan, and '80s-to-2000s influences.

Our second interview is with Robyn Green, whose work explores subcultures and challenges Scottish stereotypes, with a political twist.

Too often fashion mines working class communities for their idea and creativity without giving credit - that, says Robyn, is a form cultural appropriation. Her brand, Gadgie, is inspired by "the resilience and creativity of Scotland’s working-class communities" and she's on a mission to create opportunities for underrepresented voices in fashion. How to begin? Head home. After studying in London, she's back in Dundee, setting up her new studio, working with local hand-knitters and crochet artists and championing Made in Scotland.

FEATURING…

Sasha Clegg photographed by Wardrobe Crisis

At the Jimmy Choo Academy MA show during London fashion week SASHA CLEGG launched her brand The Englishman. She was one of the winners of Sustainability Capsule Fabric Scholarship in collaboration with heritage scissor-makers @ernestwrightltd and deadstock marketplace Last Yarn. Clegg used Last Yarn green tartan to create three-quarter-length shorts. She also partnered with Edinburgh based kilt-makers Gordon Nicholson.

Find her on Instagram here @theenglishmann

Robyn Green, photographed by Wardrobe Crisis

ROBYN GREEN studied fashjoin & textile design at Robert Gordon University (see below) before her MA at JCA. For her graduate runway, she collaborated with creative friends from back home, including knitter Ava Gourlay, Scotland’s first deadstock sneaker store Dundee Soul.

“Models taking to the catwalk included her 66-year-old grandad Eric Cox and uncle Steven Cox, 36. Robyn aimed to pay tribute to ‘the people and communities that shaped me into who I am today’ while her brand name, GADGIE, pays homage to ned culture.

Her designs feature a mix of menswear, with each look inspired by different people she found herself surrounded by while growing up in Dundee. This included her great-gran, “ned culture” and football hooligans.” Via The Dundee Courier

Find her at gadgie.co.uk

LINKS & FURTHER READING

JCA ACADEMY Robyn and Sasha did their MAs at JCA London. Listen to the episode with Professor Jimmy Choo here.

Here’s the Episode Clare mentions with Irish designer Richard Malone.

DUNDEE “The city of Dundee, about 60 miles north of Edinburgh on Scotland’s east coast, was once best known for its industry: whaling and shipbuilding in the 19th century, then its celebrated “three Js” – jute, jam and journalism. But in recent years, Dundee has developed another reputation: as an arts and culture hub, and the UK’s first and only Unesco-designated ‘design city’.

At a former Michelin factory in the north-east of the city, the finishing touches were being put in place for the fifth Dundee design festival, which opens on Monday. The festival, held every two years, showcases work by more than 180 designers across disciplines including textiles, homeware and more…” read the rest in The Observer.

TENNANT’S is a venerable drop. Their first beer was brewed in 1556, when Robert Tennent, who believed “this place is perfect for brewing beer”, established the brewery in Glasgow. Yep, just half a century. In the 1970s, a diver in Melbourne found a bottle lurking in a shipwreck. It’s recently been sent back. Good news story, via BBC

NED CULTURE, aka “non-educated delinquent” To call someone a ‘Ned” is a slur, but it’s not just Robyn taking it back and giving it a twist. Gavin Brewis, a PhD student at Glasgow Caledonian University, titled his research project ‘Emotions and Trauma in the Murder Capital of Europe: A new History of Neds and Ned Culture (circa 1995-2008). Now it’s turned into a platform. Podcasr coming soon apparently.

HAGGIS a savoury Scottish pudding consisting of a sheep’s pluck (heart, liver and lungs), minced with chopped onion, oatmeal and suet, and boiled in a bag, traditionally one made from the animal's stomach. Not for the squeamish. Haggis is traditionally served as part of the Burns supper on or near January 25, the birthday of Scotland's national poet Robert Burns.

ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY is the only Scottish uni that offers a combined undergraduate degree in fashion and textiles. More here.

DJCAD, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, is one of the UK’s top art schools. Discover here.

The SCOTTISH CREATIVE FUND and its cuts has been in the news in the Autumn of 2024. More here.

TARTAN “Today some tartans are seen as universal, so anyone can wear these plaids whatever their background. Most famous is Royal Stewart tartan, originally designed for Queen Victoria. Then there's Black Watch tartan, which now commemorates Scotland's most famous regiment. Other examples include Macleod Dress or 'Loud Macleod' to its fans. Lindsay which is so popular it's almost public property. Dress Stewart is much loved for womenswear. And Scotland Forever is Scotland's gift to the world. Lastly (wait for it!) there's... almost any tartan on earth. Want to know why?” Read the rest on Clan.com

GORDON NICHOLSON KILTMAKERS “At 189 Canongate, to be exact, is the flagship store of Gordon Nicolson Kiltmakers. Nestled into the shop floor of a seventeenth-century tenement on Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile, it has been trading handmade kilts and highlandwear since April 2009.

The man with his name above the door (you can call him ‘Gordon’) had a simple dream: to promote a better standard of kiltmaking. He’d worked in the industry before and wanted to do things differently. How? By focusing a little less on turnover and a lot more on authentic Scottish craftsmanship. MORE HERE.

Made of 100% pure new wool, HARRIS TWEED is produced in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. More than just heritage, it’s protected - The 1993 Act of Parliament brought into being the Harris Tweed Authority, to promote and protect the Harris Tweed® brand across the worldharristweed.org

The SCOTTISH FASHION AWARDS were established by Scottish national treasure and pioneering fashion strategist and Honorary President of the British School of Fashion TESSA HARTMANN CBE. They ran from 2006 to 2016.