Shire firm kits out our athletes in new tartan
Athletes from Team Scotland will be stepping out in style at next year’s Commonwealth Games in tartan designed in Perthshire.
The 2018 Team Scotland tartan was unveiled earlier this week at Gleneagles Hotel, with the tartan being designed by Perth-based House of Edgar.
The men’s kilts were also manufactured by House of Edgar, with the women’s outfit put together by Scottish fashion designer Siobhan Mackenzie.
Modelled by top athletes and couple, former Gleneagles lifeguard Andrew Butchart ( 5000m) and Lynsey Sharp ( 800m), the design reflects Team Scotland’s colours of blue, purple and magenta, with hints of green added as a nod to the host nation Australia.
The House of Edgar is no stranger to designing for the national team, after creating the official tartans for Glasgow 2014 and Team Scotland 2014.
James Dracup, managing director of the Fair City’s House of Edgar, said: “House of Edgar is delighted to partner with Team Scotland in producing a wonderful new tartan for Scotland’s team at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast 2018.
“The cloth has been woven at our factory in Keith in the Scottish Highlands and all men’s kilts hand made at our factory in Paisley.
“We are proud that the Scottish team will be wearing an authentic Scottish tartan, produced in Scottish factories and very excited that our fabric is to be shown in both a traditional and, through the collaboration with Siobhan, a more contemporary format at the opening ceremony.
“We wish Team Scotland every success at the games.”
As the last nation to host the Commonwealth Games, Team Scotland will be the first to walk into the opening ceremony in Australia’s Carrara Stadium wearing the tartan designed in Perth in April.
Elinor Middlemiss, Team Scotland’s deputy chef de mission - who manages the team kit - said: “After months of planning it is really exciting to see the parade uniform come to fruition and we are delighted with the new look created by our partners at House of Edgar and Siobhan Mackenzie.
“It is always important to make sure the women’s team members don’t feel like an afterthought when it comes to the parade uniform, so it has been brilliant to work with such an exciting young designer like Siobhan and see her bring such a contemporary twist to their kilts and I am sure they are going to love it.”
She added: “A big thank you also to Gleneagles Hotel for providing us with such an iconic backdrop for our reveal photography.
“As hosts of the Ryder Cup in 2014, the new European Championships golf event in 2018 and the Solheim Cup in 2019, we share a passion for world-class sporting events.
“Both organisations are underpinned by a strong Scottish heritage, coupled with a drive to stay at the cuttingedge, this was a perfect fit for us.”
Designer Siobhan - who herself worked at Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as an alterations technician - said: “I’m truly honoured as a young female entrepreneur to have had the opportunity to design for the women of Team Scotland.
“I have injected my innovative design style into the womenswear look with the end goal in mind being not only that I want to represent a modernday Scotland but also that I want the female athletes to walk into the opening ceremony feeling great in their outfit!”
She added: “Watching Team Scotland walk into the stadium will certainly be a very proud moment in my career.”
The tartan designed in Perth will be showcased at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games opening ceremony on Wednesday, April 4 2018.