Tartan with a twist With kilt maker Andrea Chappell

The Culotte Kilt

6m of Japanese selvedge denim, deeply pleated with a mix of wide knife and box pleats, conceals a bifurcated under-apron, hidden by a double pleating section at the back. This example is mixed with traditional sashiko cloth and vintage trimmings, with a wide, high waistband and bespoke leather work details. Vintage kimono material is used to line the two deep front pockets, for a cycling friendly, go-anywhere garment.

Twisting Tradition

Andrea Chappell, a kiltmaker based in Forres, is expanding the possibilities of our pleated highland dress, by creating modern designs using traditional techniques in her bespoke, contemporary kilts.

It’s over twenty years ago now that I trained as a designer at Central Saint Martins and the

Royal College of Art, developing a passion for print using traditional letterpress, which grew into a love affair with heritage crafts. Since then,

I’ve practised as an interpretation designer for museums and visitor experiences, collaborating with craftspeople to interpret the stories of people and places at heritage sites at home and 26abroad. As an epilogue to each of those stories I began making a kilt to commemorate each project. As a garment historically associating its wearer with a place, or people, it was a fitting way to mark a moment, using textiles related to the location and embedding my own artwork within the linings. It was also a much-loved part of my wardrobe, as since childhood my mother made my own kilts for school. This commemoration soon became my personal tradition (which my husband would describe as an addiction), as well as my daily ‘uniform’ throughout my professional life.

In the early days I commissioned my kilts from Howie Nicholsby of 21st Century Kilts, but following our move to Moray I found the Keith Kilt School, where I began training in the traditional, hand stitched method myself. Kiltmaking extended naturally from my daily

design life, where interpretation and invention is fundamental to my role. Very quickly my curiosity led to the development of more contemporary designs. Sometimes this was driven by necessity (adding pockets into the pleats to help budget airline travel, or creating culottes underneath so I could ride my bike), at other times ideas have come from historic research.

I find offering an alternative to tartan has been particularly appealing to women, seeking something more elegant and flattering than a version of their male counterparts formal attire.

It’s very encouraging to see a more diverse market developing for the kilt, especially one that supports independent makers, using traditional skills to produce kilts of exceptional quality, rather than factory produced fashion versions.

The majority of kilts I make use my own collection of vintage, deadstock, or end of roll textiles, which encourages responsible, resourceful production, without waste. They are an enduring, as well as versatile garment, offering a life of wear for more than one generation. This very slow, but sustainable means of making is sadly an endangered craft, but with greater recognition from a modern audience we may hopefully sustain these skills for many more generations to come.”

Two kilts, three generations:

This was my grandad’s kilt, from his days serving as an Argyll and Sutherland Highlander. His heavyweight Black Watch has allowed a lot of room for alteration, passing to my mum then onto me. Altering it to fit me prompted some new additions, four more pleats, with deeper box and kick pleats at each side, a fringe edge at both sides rather than one, bespoke leatherwork with four straps, new buckles and rivets. The kilt I made for my mum is also brought in here, by using her Cheviot tweed as a piped trim. Her Cairngorm tweed kilt also includes a piece of her father’s kilt along the fringe edge and in her hand drawn lining I illustrated the sunflowers I have always associated with my mum.

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The Black Watch and the tweed kilt pictured (right), with the sunflowers illustrated on the lining.

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