For seven Scottish designers, their future customers are waiting in the Far East.

A hand-picked collective of the country's brightest design talent flew out to Hong Kong last week to showcase their work and meet with potential buyers looking to bring quality Scottish-made fashion to their customers in Asia.

The popularity of British labels has exploded in China's luxury fashion market, with sales of Scottish designs skyrocketing thanks to the iconic fabrics, intricate detail and workmanship involved.

Setting up shop in the exclusive PMQ building in Hong Kong's trendy Soho area, Cats Brothers, Elizabeth Martin Tweed, Kestin Hare, MYB Textiles, Silken Favours, LULUZULU and The Tailor Retailored were chosen from 70 applicants to fly the flag for Scottish design.

Under the umbrella of Scotland Re:Designed, the designers are being given a platform to expand overseas, forging connections with foreign buyers and manufacturers, whilst helping to grow Scotland's creative economy back home.

The initiative, supported by the Scottish Government and sponsored by Creative Scotland, has helped raise more than £650,000 in sales for its designers since launching in 2012.

Cats Brothers

Lindsay McKean's Soho-based luxury knitwear and streetwear label Cats Brothers features everything from emoji ghosts to dead rappers.

Embroidery stitched over iconic images of Tupac and Biggie Smalls paved the way for her to create outlandish knitwear with a streak of humour - from ketchup and mustard skull caps to giant pom pom jackets.

Most recently, her wares were spotted on The Jonathan Ross Show being worn by the band Years and Years.

Elizabeth Martin Tweed

Elizabeth Martin designs and manufactures garments using iconic Harris Tweed and Scottish lace.

Having spent over a decade working in soft furnishing, she decided to jump into fashion four years ago and has never looked back.

“I decided I wanted to use specifically Scottish fabrics and they had to be made in Scotland. I am still strong on that,” she says.

You can read more about Elizabeth's work in the article below.

Silken Favours

Vicki Murdoch is the creative talent and creator behind Silken Favours.

Making everything from playful Koi carp pillows to cactus silk shirts, Vicki is regarded as one of the UK's most outstanding young print designers.

The Scot, based in London, uses time-consuming pen and ink techniques to achieve her garments' luxury look.

MYB Textiles

For Margo Graham, the project has helped to raise the profile of Scottish-made lace overseas.

Consumed with her love of lace for over 30 years, the design director followed her mother into the trade, working at Ayrshire’s MYB Textiles mill.

It’s the only producer in the world still making patterned lace on original 100-year-old Nottingham lace looms.

Margo says the Asian market is key to ensuring Scottish-made clothes and textiles remain relevant, with sales up 64% following a visit to meet buyers in China last year.

She says: "We travel a lot we visit lots of different countries, China, Russia, India etc and we try and get the word out there that we are still weaving and producing fabric here in Scotland."

Kestin Hare

For Kestin Hare, the chance to travel to New York in 2012 with Scotland Re:Designed was invaluable for his business.

With 80% of the menswear designer’s collection produced in the UK, Kestin said the chance to meet with buyers from Barney’s was an opportunity he could not have afforded to do without the support of the project.

"Without that kind of opportunity, we just never would have progressed into that kind of market," he explains.

Running four stores in the UK with the likes of Harvey Nichols and Urban Outfitters stocking his clothing line, Kestin Hare also sells to countries across the world, with the majority of his buyers now based in Asia.

He said: "I think particularly the Asian market, particularly in Japan, respect the kind of quality that the UK produces."

Kestin says the programme was life changing and would encourage any up-and-coming designers to look for support from Scotland Re:Designed to help promote their fashion business.

He added: "You’ve got to be hard, you’ve got to work hard and put everything into it and seize every opportunity you possibly can to make it happen."

The Tailor Retailored

Based in Edinburgh's Grassmarket, The Tailor Retailored specialises in Scottish luxury Cashmere clothing for men.

Headed up by John MacEwan and Richard Olive, the team design and create limited edition men's jumpers in small runs between 20-100.

LULUZULU

LULUZULU is a Scottish childrenswear label set up by Katie & Richard Kendrick.

Launched in 2014, the brand now has stockists across the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.

Opportunity of a lifetime

The Scottish Government-supported initiative is being backed by Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, who described Scotland Re:Designed as ‘a fantastic opportunity to promote Scottish fashion in Hong Kong’.

Chris Hunt, founder of Scotland Re:Designed, added: “SRD is a great platform for promoting Scotland, Scottish design and textiles, and doing business, and Hong Kong is an incredibly exciting and dynamic place.

“We were given a warm welcome by business and media alike, and have a lot of great leads to follow up on, and a wealth of results already secured over the last years work including sales, new business opportunities and inward investment.”



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