A Thread Of Talent In The Far East

A vibrant new exhibition in Japan is showcasing the best of Scotland’s fashion designers

JAPAN has something of a love affair with Scottish culture. It’s fair to say that this probably started with whisky, but now the country has turned its fascination to tartan. A new exhibition, simply entitled Tartan, is being hosted at the Kobe Fashion Museum in Hyogo, the country’s only exclusively fashion-orientated museum.

The show, which opened last September, will last for two years, travelling to four other major cities and attracting an anticipated 50,000 visitors.

The exhibition harnesses a wealth of Scottish talent. Leading the charge of designers is Glasgow-based Joyce Young OBE. Joyce graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 1975 and has worked for over four decades as a fashion designer.

Her tartan inspired wedding gowns, couture dresses and special Scottish themed outfits have been worn by Alannah Hamilton, Kimberley Stewart, Ashley Jensen and Judy Murray to name a few. And her designs have taken her across the Atlantic to Los Angeles Fashion Week and Dressed To Kilt in New York, though it’s a first for her to be shown in Japan.

Joyce was first approached by Miki Inamura, a Japanese delegate, from the Kobe Newspaper Foundation over a year ago.

She was picked out to represent Scottish design with five others and asked if she would design a wedding dress specifically for the exhibition. Joyce agreed to meet with the Japanese team at her Glasgow studios.

“It was actually in November that they came to visit – but we put our Christmas decorations up a whole month early, just to give the place more of a warm Scottish welcome,” Joyce says.

Within a few months of the meeting Joyce had designed a specially made tartan inserted wedding dress as well as an