A Scottish celebration: Future Legend - Ten30 tweed and Dauvit Alexander

As an Anglo-Welshman, the thought of losing our Scottish friends and neighbours in the recent independence vote had filled me with horror. I therefore wanted to mark the outcome of the referendum, and the preservation of the United Kingdom, with a Scottish special.

I'm grateful to Alan Moore of ten30 and Dauvit Alexander, jeweller, aka the Justified Sinner, who have collaborated on this photographic project celebrating tweed, jewellery and Scottish creativity. They rushed these images to me to help me mark this momentous occasion.

All images Simon Murphy, 2013

Alan told me about the project:

"My name is Alan Moore, I am a Glasgow School of Art graduate and I started my own label, ten30, in 2011. In the beginning the focus was on womanswear, using a lot of digital printed silks and embroidery on simple shapes. The brand was quite conceptual and I did a lot of exhibitions, films and photography as well as artist collaboration. The womenswear days were a lot of fun and very expressive as a designer, but ultimately, not working as a business. 

My ethos has always to produce garments in Scotland, using raw materials sourced from the UK. This caught the attention of Harris Tweed Hebrides, one of the biggest producers of the cloth, and they approached me with a commission proposal. The idea was to produce a small collection of men's jackets, 100% made in Scotland with a strong concept of heritage and story behind them. This is the kind of brief I relish and I got really into it. I was given three tartans to work with, a burnt orange and grey check, a modern Mackenzie hunting-look tartan and a white Stewart look tartan. 

My initial idea was to look at the cloth and develop a concept and story around that, then a garment would come naturally. With the orange cloth, it instantly reminded me of smoked salmon (a very strange correlation, but it was the first thing into my head and I usually trust my first instinct) I ran with the fishing theme and thought it went well with the cloth, the heritage of the Scottish fishing industry and the fact that it's still relevant today. So around this concept I designed a double breasted peacoat, complete with a thick quilt lining and waxed cotton collar and pockets, making the jacket as practical as it as aesthetical.

The Mackenzie tartan reminded me of the Scottish landscape, for me it was a real example of Scottishness. From this I looked into the history of Scottish kings and Nobles. Although he had a colourful and controversial history, the story of Robert the Bruce picking himself up after defeat after defeat at the hands of the English was inspiring to me. I called the single breasted 2 button, The Bruce. It has leather detailing on the pockets and is a traditional square cut jacket. The final jacket was the white Stewart tartan. This cloth was multicoloured, slightly garish and almost arrogant. I had to find a concept or character that would fit into the cloth, and who could pull it off. 

With the Stewart connection, I looked to racing driver Jackie Stewart as my inspiration. A double breasted, peaked lapel 4 button seemed to fit the bill, as the wearer would need to have a bit of confidence about him to pull it off.

The jackets were photographed by Simon Murphy, one of the best photographers in Scotland at the moment, and published on the front cover of the Scotland on Sunday magazine. Since then people started to ask about buying the jackets and asking for more options in menswear. The womenswear came to an end round about January this year when I decided I no longer loved that part of the industry. The label has been gaining strength and popularity since then and I have grand plans for the future".

See ten30 and Dauvit Alexander for more information, or to buy.

Made in Scotland