Behind the big picture windows of a chic, dark shopfront, Edinburgers have spotted something new in Stockbridge Village: 1. a giant fridge full of flowers, lit up like a beacon on Edinburgh’s dark winter afternoons 2. a scattering of leafy green plants on tall wooden trollies 3. a big, bright, shiny espresso machine and 4. a bunch of contented coffee drinkers. Many have wondered what strange hybrid of retailer has colonised Stockbridge. Some walk on, slightly suspicious, while a few bravely cross the threshold into a different kind of retail space, as yet unseen in our city. READ MORE
Rachel Wythe-Moran and Simon Watkins’ shop was born of discontent. Bored with their respective jobs as menswear designers and disillusioned with the fickle world of fashion, they were both looking for an escape. Designing for the high street wasn’t cutting it anymore. “It had all become very samey and boring. The design aspect involved reinventing the wheel every six months” says Rachel. Simon wondered why design had to be trend-oriented: “The things I like to wear, I’ve always liked. Why can’t this apply to all the products in my life?”
When I first moved to Edinburgh, dark mornings of ‘dreich’ Scottish weather were brightened by an unusual sight on the school run. A smiley, young, bearded dad on a bicycle, cute son bringing up the rear in his own bike seat: a nice enough scene in itself. But the really good bit was that rain or shine, whatever the season, this chap was always wearing a kilt. Not just any old kilt. Never a traditional, run-of-the-mill tartan kilt. No long white socks, furry, hanging sporran or shiny-buttoned ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ jacket in sight. No. The kilts this guy wore — every single day, riding that bike — were made in nice heathery tweeds, a smart grey wool pinstripe, sometimes even army camo fabric, blue denim or black leather. Their details were eye-catching, too: some featured big external detachable pockets, reminiscent of cargo/utility trousers, while the trims, linings and often the undersides of the kilt’s pleats showed a flash of eye-catching, contrasting fabrics. He also wore his kilts in a striking, uniquely casual way, with slouchy wool socks, lovely big leather boots (laces artfully undone), and a signature ‘airline seatbelt,’ low-slung round the waist. On the top half, he wore whatever you’d normally wear with a pair of jeans – a leather jacket, a wooly jumper, a cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up, sometimes with a well-fitted, shorter-cut wool jacket or waistcoat. And of course, for the school run, a florescent ‘high-vis’ jacket, flung over it all. It didn’t take long to find out that this enigmatic figure was Howie Nicholsby, owner of Edinburgh’s 21st Century Kilts. READ MORE
