Le Kilt

>> Le Kilt was a nightclub in the early 80s on Greek Street in Soho London frequented by the ex-Blitz kids crowd and as the name suggests, clad with plaid on the interior.  Le Kilt in 2014 is a new label designed by Samantha McCoach, who has laid claim to this most famed of Scottish Highland wear, and created a line dedicated purely to the kilt.  “My Gran was actually a kilt maker for 30 years after moving from Italy to work in Scotland,” explains McCoach.  “I grew up in left over tartan scarps she would make up into skirts, dress’s and trousers… and tartan bonnets that never fitted on my head over a high pony tail!  Im hoping to keep the trade alive and give kilt making a modern fresh approach.  There are only a few factories left in Scotland that specialise in making them.  I’m really lucky to be working with one back home.”

The has been gently suggested as a staple item over the past seasons, particularly for AW/13 when Christopher Kane, another fellow Scot, turned to suggestions of kilts in his camouflage skirts.  J.W. Anderson too has had a kilt feature in his collections ever since he started doing womenswear and underlined that when he was creative director of Sunspel.  They’re still selling plain Scottish-made kilts as part of their core womenswear collection.  McCoach’s kilts deftly combine tradition with modernity though as each kilt is made with specialist knowledge.  For her debut collection of kilts, which is going to Dover Street Market, McCoach has a choice of plain wool and different plaids – chosen not for their connections to the different clans but for the way they might fit in with a modern day kilt wearer, who may not necessarily be Scottish.  These are exactly the sort of kilts that I longed for when I was a sulky teenager, traipsing up and down Princes Street in Edinburgh with my mum, because she wanted me to dress “proper” and get a knee-length kilt to wear for special occasions (in some lurid red tartan of course because of the colour’s connotations in Chinese culture).

This is just the mere beginning for McCoach’s “kiltie” creations.  She’ll be introducing complimentary garments and accessories to go with her kilts in the coming seasons and for S/S 15, which I got a sneak preview of at CIFF in Copenhagen, as part of the ever impressive Touba showroom, she’s made an exclusive mixed plaid style as well as rendering her kilts in pastel shades of wool crepe.  My favourite though has to be the all over denim kilt.  It’s not for the kilt purist but it’s definitely a playful and versatile take on this iconic garment.