Westwood Heritage: Tartan

With an ever-enduring reverence for British tradition, the most distinctive aspect of Westwood’s designs has been her deep interest in history – and the references to it throughout her work. “Every fabric that you look at in England has a charge of content,” she once stated. Her recurrent use of tartan, an extension of this approach. One is only to recall the ‘Time Machine’ collection of Autumn/Winter 1988-89 – when halfway through the show, Michael Clark performed the Ghillie Callum, sword dance. Complete with bagpipe accompaniment, the dancer was dressed in full tartan Highland regalia. The fabric has, in turn, embodied all forms and tones throughout the seasons.

Drawing inspiration from the 18th century French craze for British dress, the Anglomania collection of Autumn/Winter 1993-94 offered an interplay between elaborate French couture-inspired technique and masterful English tailoring – counting the appearance of clashing clan tartans. Slick double-breasted suiting (fit for 19th century gentlemen) was worn alongside tartan mini kilts, with exaggerated tam o’shanter hats – presenting ladies as lairds. For this collection, Westwood worked with weavers Lochcarron of Scotland to design her own tartan – the MacAndreas, named after her husband and design partner Andreas Kronthaler. This fabric was added to the Scottish Register of Tartans that same year.