The Secret Life of Tartan: How a Cloth Shaped a Nation

A stunning exploration of tartan’s origins, its links with art, landscape, contemporary culture and the outlaws of history.

Tartan is so much more than just a cloth. From its clan origins in the Scottish Highlands to the catwalks of Milan, London and New York, from its regimental history to its anti-establishment status, tartan has not only shaped a nation but has become an international style icon.

The Secret Life of Tartan is as colorful and interwoven as the threads of the fabric itself. From troops in Black Watch tartan controlling Highland rebels to the Balmoral tartan exclusively worn by royalty, from the first tartan on the moon to the pattern of choice for punk and high fashion alike, tartan truly has a remarkable universal status.

This landmark book is a visual guide to the poetry of tartan, looking at the dark past of the most majestic of cloths. It covers the types and styles of tartan, exploring color and craft, texture and cloth, viewing aspects of sustainability, from the handing down of kilts to the lost art of vegetable-dying yarn. It features the people behind the cloth: families, weavers and designers, mixing tradition and heritage with the contemporary. From the shortbread tin to the catwalk, regal palaces to highland bothies, The Secret Life of Tartan showcases tartan’s dramatic diversity and outstanding heritage.

Before Vixy Rae took over Stewart Christie & Co, this Edinburgh institution was run by four generations of men named Duncan Lowe. Stewart Christie prides itself on garments of such quality and appeal that they last for decades.Vixy is the first female member of The Incorporation of Edinburgh Tailors, a trade body that dates back more than six centuries.