SUNSHINE ON LEITH - COLLABORATION WITH TESSUTI SCOTLAND May 28 2018

I've long been an admirer of Tessuti Scotland.  The designer behind the label, Fiona McIntosh, produces a range of fashion accessories which are hand dyed and silk screen printed using the 'discharge' method. She specialises in mainly printing wool mixes, lambswool, silk and cashmere. The use of colour is very important in her work and discharge printing lends itself to this whilst retaining the soft handle of the fabrics.

Working with Harris Tweed, there's never really been an opportunity to collaborate, but once I started working with Halley Stevensons' new Hybrid dry wax cotton, I knew it could be a possibility.  We tested out a few different methods, colourways and patterns and eventually settled on the Sunshine on Leith pattern - I designed it as I thought it mirrored the qualities of the cloth, along with our everyday weather in Scotland (changeable to say the least) and of course in celebration of the song (and film and show - all of which I loved).  

Fiona's expertise brought out the beauty of the print and the colour and it still has a slightly distressed edge as you would expect from something handcreated on such a material.  I loved the process of creating the design, seeing the panels being made up and watching Fiona work. 

So - we have a limited edition run of Rambler Rucksacks and Explorer Messengers in two colourways - Orange and Red - both with the vibrant yellow and blue Sunshine on Leith print.   The designs are all cotton including the lining and the webbing and the zip puller is a cotton based faux leather too - making it suitable for vegans too.  The Rambler and the Explorer are two of my most popular styles and I think they look fantastic made up in the print, I hope you do too!