Scotland’s tumultuous history, stunning scenery and rugged fabrics and knits are catnip to designers. Karl Lagerfeld presented a Chanel show in Linlithgow Palace more than a decade ago. Now it’s the turn of Dior’s head of womenswear, Maria Grazia Chiuri. And boy did she throw herself into the challenge, spending months researching its history and crafts, visiting its remote corners, including the Outer Hebrides, where she initiated a collaboration between Dior’s Paris atelier and the islands’ Harris tweed industry. A similar entente cordiale was brokered with Johnstons of Elgin and Le Kilt, a small label which works with manufacturers across the UK to update traditional emblems of Scottish dress.
The results made for one of Chiuri’s most stunning collections. Johnstons recoloured tartans to her specifications, which were inspired by the gorse and rhododendrons running rampant in the formal Italianate gardens of Drummond Castle, the show’s venue, and the surrounding hills: enter hazy mauves, yellow and green, as well as a crisp red and navy tartan used for slim, punk-ish trousers and corsets as well as a “relaxed” bar jacket and matching slouchy kilt.