Tweed goes to Tokyo

THE past two years have been a particularly rocky patch for Harris Tweed, an industry that has experienced its fair share of rough terrain during its long history. While this luxurious fabric from the Outer Hebrides has proved popular with leading British fashion designers over the past 20 years, including Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen, there is no denying that its relationship with the top end of the fashion industry has been an unsteady one.
The organisers of a trio of high-profile 2009 fashion shows are aiming to change this. Mark Hogarth, a former model and now fashion consultant based in Glasgow, has put together three dynamic catwalk shows featuring the famous fabric in order to promote it to a fashion-conscious audience of designers, retailers and shoppers. The first two shows took place in Stornoway and Paris; next week, Hogarth will arrive in Tokyo with the show, in an attempt to woo the highly lucrative Japanese market.

The show, taking place on 25 March at Club Velours in Minami-Aoyama, offers a "younger and funkier" look at a fabric perhaps associated more with huntin'/shootin'/fishin' attire than with the catwalk, despite its associations with designers from Ralph Lauren to Paul Smith. The new show features pieces from a range of Scottish designers, including Sandra Murray; Deryck Walker, Scottish Designer of the Year 2008, whose autumn/winter 2009 menswear collection was based around Harris Tweed, and Helen Finlayson, who recently graduated from Heriot Watt.

But it's not only Scottish designers who are utilising the fabric right now – American label Calvin Klein featured a number of crisp Harris Tweed overcoats in its autumn/winter 2009 men's collection, and Italian powerhouse Gucci has recently placed an order for the fabric. In addition, parties beyond the fashion world are showing an interest: Glasgow-based design company Graven Images recently created a capsule collection of furnishings featuring Harris Tweed. The range was launched last October in – you guessed it – Tokyo.

So why is Harris Tweed so focused on the Japanese market? "The Japanese are really the most discerning consumers on the planet when it comes to fashion," says Hogarth. "They appreciate high-quality, hand-made pieces, which is why they often flock to what we call the 'heritage brands'. History and tradition are very important to them.

"Harris Tweed has a market in Japan that dates back to the 1970s, but with designers increasingly using Harris Tweed in more modern and innovative ways, we're confident that it will appeal to a younger, funkier market over there." He envisages a typical Japanese customer for Harris Tweed designs to be an aspirational and style-conscious twentysomething professional living and working in Tokyo.

It seems surprising that the industry is having to give a product with such a rich history, reputation for quality and huge following among a wide range of fashion designers such a sales push. Savile Row tailor Timothy Everest, who dresses David Beckham, told The Scotsman in 2007 that it's "an amazing institution", while London-based fashion designer Selina Blow said: "No-one can match it anywhere in the world."

However, the industry has famously been plagued by in-fighting and tussles over the use of the Harris Tweed name (it can only be used for cloth woven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides), which some say have hampered its progression. About one million metres of Harris Tweed is produced annually now, down from seven million a decade ago. A £30,000 grant was recently awarded from Western Isles Council to help shore up production, it was reported last week.

Last year, Lorna Macaulay was brought in as chief executive of the Harris Tweed Authority, and she hopes that renewed interest from Japan will contribute towards an upsurge in sales: "Japan has always been a market for us, but interest has waned since the 1970s heyday. Traditionally, the European market, and Germany in particular, has upheld Harris Tweed. However, gents' jackets sold in Europe aren't enough to make it a viable industry again, and we have high hopes for the Japanese market.

"They love the quality, the story behind the product and the fact that fabrics are inspired by our landscapes, and they're very interested in small pieces and accessories, things like luggage and purses. In fact, the only real task for me has been to reassure Japanese buyers of a guaranteed supply, just because of the negative publicity we've suffered from lately."

This potential for upturn couldn't come at a better time. The future of Harris Tweed's involvement with the top end of the fashion industry was called into question in December 2006, when Yorkshire businessman Brian Haggas bought the Kenneth Mackenzie mill in Stornoway, which at the time accounted for around 95 per cent of Harris Tweed production.

He reduced the existing portfolio comprising hundreds of different designs down to just four very traditional cloths, refusing to sell to anyone else and had the mill produce only men's jackets in four designs. This gave rise in 2007 to the creation of two new companies, Harris Tweed Hebrides and Harris Tweed Textiles, which now thrive supplying designers left high and dry by Haggas's decision to cut off the supply of fabric to outside buyers.

Earlier this month, however, it was announced that the Kenneth Mackenzie mill will close for at least a year, with most of the remaining 15 skilled workers left (there were 85 staff 18 months ago) facing redundancy. It was also revealed that more than 70,000 of the mill's jackets, originally destined for Europe, America, Canada and Japan, remain unsold despite hefty discounting.

However, while the more traditional gents' tailored jackets are proving tough to shift, the high-fashion tweed garments are generating much more interest. Deryck Walker's collection has already attracted high-end Japanese retailers, including the trendy department store United Arrows, and the industry is confident that Harris Tweed's history and heritage aesthetic will appeal in Japan, currently one of the fastest-growing markets for the fabric.

From Burberry to Aquascutum and Pringle of Scotland, British heritage brands are hugely popular with the Japanese, who adore a sense of history, craftsmanship and classic British design. Will Harris Tweed be able to tap into that popularity?

"There's a lot of potential for the industry in Japan," says designer Ruth Morris, who sells Harris Tweed products through her online boutique Roobedo and has contributed some pieces to Hogarth's three fashion shows. "I've got customers in Japan and I've shown my work in an exhibition there. The Japanese seem very keen on indigenous fabrics, as well as supporting small industries. Plus, I think they're intrigued by the UK in general, which is perhaps why British brands hold a lot of appeal for them as consumers."

Designer Helen Findlayson, who has contributed a Harris Tweed and velvet jumpsuit for the show in Tokyo, adds: "Harris Tweed has a purity, a real timeless quality, which really seems to appeal to the Japanese market. They really focus on quality and timeless design above everything else, so I think it's the perfect market for Harris Tweed.

"I love Japanese style and I think that tweed fits that aesthetic very well. I've even created a modern, kimono-style jacket made out of Harris Tweed."

Last month it was revealed that Donald John MacKay, from Luskentyre in Harris, whose mill produced the Harris Tweed incorporated into a limited-edition Nike trainer in 2004, has won a new order from footwear brand Clark's to produce tweed for a special edition of the firm's iconic desert boot, to be launched this autumn.

Proof indeed of the versatility of this fabulous Scottish fabric, now being used on everything from bags to shoes to teddy bears – and evidence, perhaps, that Haggas's original plans "to bring (Harris Tweed] into the 21st century" in his own way were somewhat misguided and certainly too limited. Make no mistake: this is high fashion at its edgiest, and Tokyo is in for a treat.

Source: http://www.fashionproducts.com/