I embraced Scottish style for the ultimate Highlands road trip – tartan and all

Oddly, it wasn’t weeks of style plotting and three long days of packing for a Highland road trip that drew my attention to Scotland’s sartorial renaissance. A string of high profile fashion shows already did the honours, along with the profusion of tartan and tweed charging onto the fashion scene.

I’d already eyed up dark tartan skirts (think gothic Clueless) from cult brand Le Kilt to pair with an oversized black cashmere jumper but the sheer scale of the revolution happening in Scottish style only really dawned on me as I began to gather ponchos from Johnstons of Elgin, cashmere from Begg x Co and Kiltane, hand-crafted leather bags from Iseabel Hendry, and so on, for our family adventure. The clothes were wearable but brimming with a sense of heritage and artisanal pride.

Cashmere cape, £375, Johnstons of Elgin, Cashmere cardigan, £129 and scarf, £19.99, Kiltane, Cord trousers, £125, Toast, Tartan handbag, £795, Rosemore by Emma Wilkinson, Boots, Rosalyn’s own

It soon became apparent that there is a thriving community of makers, each one keen to make introductions to another. Iseabal Hendry passed me on to tartan maestro Araminta Campbell (who’s tartaned-up luxury Braemar hotel The Fife Arms and, more recently, Balmoral, to the nines). Fashion insider and craftsmanship champion Anna Garner of The Garnered hooked me up with Keira Wraae-Stewart whose folksy, beautifully-curated jewellery at her boutique, ætla, somehow led me to Judy R Clark’s exquisite tailored velvet jackets and antique skirts. “It’s very much in our heritage to keep things raw and real,” insists Clark, “people like to connect with smaller brands and truly know their story.”

Made in the UK Full Moon Bag in merlot, Iseabal Hendry

Stories are what I’d wanted to chase into the rust, claret and ochre shades of autumn for our own Highland fling, following old family tales and grainy, tweedy photographs taken along Loch Maree. It’s here that a freckle of a white house stands beneath the mighty glens and where my extended family once escaped for long weekends.

There were the other stories of Roaring Twenties parties and general Highland madcappery adorned in tweed. The Queen Victoria myths centred around the eccentric Fife Arms and The Torridon (whose elaborate ceilings reference the monarch’s obsession with the Zodiac), and clan lore on the Isle of Skye, where the owner of Kinloch Lodge runs her finger up a framed family tree to the 9th century – her father Lord MacDonald, now heads the fabled clan, with a coat of arms tartan.

I felt enchanted by this deep-rooted sense of identity as we hotel-hopped through the Highlands, and how this translated into Scottish brands’ feeding trends, often sending them below the border and across the Atlantic. They’ve always woven their own cloth and are proudly anchored in the land and its people’s history, whether using local textiles, drawing on traditional clan kilts or passing craft traditions down through the generations like precious heirlooms. It’s a puritanical form of provenance, quality and craftsmanship that Scotland’s creatives were peddling long before it was considered the paragon of conscious consumerism. “The history of Scottish textiles is woven into the very fabric of the country,” explains Garner, who also curates the Festival of Fashion at The Fife Arms, “tartan, tweed and cashmere are completely tied to Scottish identity.”

In fact, Europe’s leading design houses have long relied on the country’s textile pedigree, its hand-made ethos and heritage prints to inspire collections. Christian Dior was bewitched by the Highlands’ wild beauty, showing his 1951 spring collection in Perthshire, while the country’s coarse, structured Highland tweed inspired Chanel’s iconic tweed jacket (the designer absorbed more in the Highlands than the 2nd Duke of Westminster’s affections).

Fast forward over 70 years and they’re still at it. Dior’s Creative Director, Maria Grazia Chiuri recently rebooted the sartorial take on the Auld Alliance with the high drama Dior Cruise 2025 show at Perthshire’s Drummond Castle, channelling the rebellious spirit of Mary Queen of Scots. She gave Scottish brands, from Johnstons of Elgin to Harris Tweed, an international stage, and Scottish heritage style itself, a cool, androgynous edge.

But the current Caledonian comeback, spanning the haute design houses to the high street, feels more profound than a Dior collaboration or sartorial flashpoint: “The Dior effect is undeniable, but it is building an already existing interest and dedication to Scottish fashion design,” agrees Garner.

Indeed, it shines a long overdue spotlight on the country’s creative dynamism and textile traditions but heritage prints and materials are being updated via a subtle modern cut here and a cashmere hoodie look there. “What we’re seeing now,” observes Cathleen Nicol, founder and designer of the luxury bag brand, C.Nicol Scotland, “is a resurgence in Scottish textiles and icons being used by the next generation of contemporary, premium Scottish brands, and that’s exciting.”

Cashmere and wool shacket, £995, Johnstons of Elgin, Cashmere jumper, £119 and cashmere neck tie, £45, Kiltane, Fernweh Glens Kit Bag, £90, The Fife Arms , Trousers and boots, Rosalyn’s own

I considered this, while flinging on an oversized Kiltane jumper and scarlet cashmere headscarf for a fishing expedition at the Mare estate, a wild, romantically pretty slice of the Cairngorms where The Fife Arms guests are indulged with a fancy picnic, a rod and high hopes. So many of the pieces I wore during our two week Highland spree could be easily absorbed into my London wardrobe, at least in the “quiet luxury” compartment.

A cashmere JANECARR jumper could be worn with a leather skirt or casual cords; a divinely soft Johnstons of Elgin cape would suit being flung over a trench or pulled over cold shoulders in a cafe; a Judy R Clark velvet jacket with statement sleeves could dial up the dullest of looks for 7pm drinks.

Velvet jacket, £1,200, Judy R Clark, Grainne Morton Gold plated, abalone, cameo, jet, labradorite, opal, pearl, turquoise and vintage glass earrings, £1,200, ætla, Tartan and leather bag, £365, C.Nicol Jeans and boots, Rosalyn’s own

Leather bags by Scottish designers such as Iseabal Hendry, C.Nicol Scotland and ByRosemore are imbued with craftsmanship and heirloom ambition but are functional, too, for everyday life. Even the vintage Kinloch Anderson tartan mini skirt from Vinntry looks entirely of the moment for 2024.

Of all the Scottish pieces and prints, tartan has felt the full stomach-lurching spin of the trends merry go round in recent decades, falling out of favour and into stuffy cliché territory, then redeeming itself on some catwalk (historically, Vivienne Westwood’s) or street style scene. But its current abundance is staggering. “Tartan has had many chapters throughout history, and I believe we are currently in the heart of another,” says Emma Wilkinson, who harnessed her tartan design skills from MacNaughtons, and years of kilt making and tailoring, to design her own tartan “inspired by the great Jacobite female rebels who left their mark on Scottish history” for her structured, handcrafted bag label, By Rosemore. “It’s the high-end to high street era – tartan for all.’”

Indeed, you’d be hard pressed to find a high street or premium brand devoid of a tartan knit or oversized coat. Once I was home, I spotted more tartan in Notting Hill than Glenmorangie, my antenna finely-tuned. Katie Laird, creative director of Scottish cashmere brand, Kiltane, is “fascinated by just how many stylish people I’m seeing walking down some of the most iconic avenues in outfits sprinkled with tartan. If you ask me, Scotland is certainly having a moment in style.”

More from Rosalyn’s Scottish road trip...

JANECARR Cashmere jumper, £575, The Fife Arms , Leather bag, £375, C.Nicol, Mulberry Vintage skirt, £130, Vinntry, Alpaca socks, £20, Paris Scotland, Shoes, Rosalyn’s own

Giles Deacon for the Fife Arms, Munro Victoria Cape in tweed

Rosalyn was shot at The Scottish Room at Mount St. Restaurant, inspired by the history of the Highlands and sister property the Fife Arms.