Regular Event:
17th Nov 2023 -
19th Nov 2023
We are delighted to announce our first Festival of Fashion, an exciting and immersive weekend transporting you to the heart of the global fashion community, with contributors including acclaimed designer Giles Deacon, eminent fashion journalist Tim Blanks, designer Simone Rocha, celebrated costume designer and BAFTA Fellowship winner Sandy Powell and The Telegraph’s Fashion News & Features Director Bethan Holt. Join us to explore this fascinating world, from learning about the fine craft of couture and role of artist collaboration to the future of fashion and the meaning of the clothes we wear. Alongside the dynamic talks, there will be a chance to visit interactive installations around the village of Braemar from Scottish textiles and designers.
Our first Festival of Fashion has been curated by Anna Garner, familiar with the worlds of both fashion and design having begun her career as assistant to André Leon Talley at the Paris offices of Vanity Fair and Vogue USA, and most recently founder of fine craft website The Garnered.
With our festival weekend ticket, you’ll have access to all of the incredible talks over Saturday and Sunday – available here
Festival Programme
Friday 17th
7pm: Cocktails in the Drawing Room
There could be no better way to begin the celebrations for the inaugural Festival of Fashion than cocktails from Elsa’s Bar – inspired by the legendary designer Elsa Schiaparelli who adored the Highlands and spent much time in the village of Braemar.
7:30pm: Opening Dinner in the Clunie Dining Room
Join us for the opening dinner of the Festival with a special menu created by the Kinneuchar Inn, recently voted Best Local Restaurant Scotland in the Good Food Guide and 14th in Square Meal’s list of the best restaurants in the UK – the highest ranked restaurant in Scotland.
Headed by Chef James Ferguson and his partner Alethea Palmer, the 17th century inn is situated at the heart of the historic village of Kilconquhar in the East Neuk of Fife.
James worked for 18 years in London alongside the likes of Angela Hartnett and Margot Henderson before setting up the Kinneuchar. His food is both gentle and firm in its philosophy – taking traditional dishes, elevated by the local seafood, native breeds of meat and game, and produce sourced from the neighbouring Balcaskie Estate. Honest, unpretentious food rests on the foundation of his classical training and years of experience.
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Saturday 18th
10am: Identity Through Fashion
Bethan Holt & Kirsty Hassard
Join Bethan Holt – Fashion News & Features Director for The Telegraph – and Kirsty Hassard – Co-Curator of V&A Dundee’s current exhibition Tartan – as they discuss Identity Through Fashion. They will focus particularly on Queen Elizabeth II, who felt most herself wearing tweed at her beloved Balmoral, and Frances Farquharson, the New York socialite, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar editor and owner of nearby Braemar Castle, who wore tartan to flamboyant effect. A book signing of Bethan Holt’s The Queen: 70 Years of Majestic Style will follow this event.
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12pm: Crafting a Sustainable Future in Fashion and Design
Iseabal Hendry, April Crichton & Hugo Macdonald
A panel discussion led by Hugo Macdonald, former design editor of Monocle and founder of Bard Scotland, a shop that celebrates the best of Scottish craft, with: Scottish accessories designer Iseabal Hendry, whose timeless pieces from handwoven leatherwork are made with a deep respect for the environment; Glasgow-based April Crichton, former designer for Sonia Rykiel Paris who co-founded the brand La Fetiche out of a desire to create fashion for life combining French manufacture with exceptional Scottish know-how.
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2pm: Paris-Scotland: Gabrielle Chanel’s Love Affair with Scottish Savoir-Faire
Oriole Cullen & Leonie Bell
A V&A power conversation between Oriole Cullen – Curator of the V&A’s current sell-out exhibition Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto – and Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee – about Chanel’s deep appreciation of textiles from Scotland and the borders. V&A Dundee’s current exhibition, Tartan, features a couture piece by Chanel in Scotland’s iconic print, and her signature suits gave some inimitable French style to British tweed.
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4pm: Conversations in Couture
Giles Deacon & Tim Blanks
London-based couture designer and illustrator, Giles Deacon who mixes fashion, fine art, theatre and grand-scale glamour, will be in conversation with legendary fashion journalist Tim Blanks, who has written for the industry’s leading titles including Vogue, GQ and the Financial Times and is now Editor-at-Large of The Business of Fashion. Giles trained at Central St Martins alongside Alexander McQueen and worked at Gucci and Bottega Veneta before starting his own label GILES in 2003.
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Sunday 19th
10am: Fashion Illustration Class with Giles Deacon
Giles Deacon is a London-based couture designer and illustrator who mixes fashion, fine art, theatre and grand-scale glamour. Trained at Central St Martins, his illustrations have been exhibited widely, appearing in publications such as Vogue and The New York Times. Giles will be hosting this class, illustrating his soon-to-be-unveiled bespoke collection for The Fife Arms. No equipment – or experience – necessary.
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12pm: The Hidden Histories of Fashion
Charlie Porter & Oriole Cullen
Charlie Porter, curator and one of fashion’s most eminent writers, will be in conversation with Oriole Cullen, Senior Curator of Fashion & Textiles at the V&A who studied The History of Dress at London’s Courtauld Institute and has curated some of fashion’s most important exhibitions. Together, they will discuss how clothes can be used in research and the stories they can tell, in the context of Charlie’s new book Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion and its accompanying exhibition at Charleston, Lewes, supported by Dior.
A book signing of Charlie Porter’s Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion will follow this event.
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1.30pm: Clothes as Costume: The adventure of dressing
Bay Garnett & Sandy Powell
Pre-loved style pioneer Bay Garnett’s just-published book Style and Substance: Why what we wear matters is an eclectic celebration of clothes and self-expression, with pieces from contributors including Rachel Weisz, Zadie Smith, David Bowie, Joan Didion and M.I.A. Garnett has over two decades’ worth of experience in the fashion industry and is credited with being the first person to do a fashion shoot entirely with second-hand clothes for Vogue in 2003. She will be in conversation with the celebrated costume designer Sandy Powell, three-time Academy Award winner for Best Costume Design (with 15 nominations) who received the prestigious BAFTA Fellowship earlier this year, the highest honour the Academy can bestow. Sandy modelled a second-hand 1960s purple Dior suit in London Fashion Week’s opening show, which was curated by Bay Garnett using clothes from Oxfam’s warehouse. The two will be discussing how dressing can affect how you feel and how others feel about you, and their shared joy in thrift shopping – the delight of discovery and the pleasure in curating outfits that are utterly unique.
A book signing of Bay’s book Style and Substance: Why what we wear matters will follow this event.
Book here
Weekend Package
Join us for the weekend – the package includes:
– Access to all Festival talks and events
– Welcome drinks reception
– Friday evening Festival of Fashion dinner with wine pairing
– Exclusive preview of Giles Deacon’s bespoke collection for The Fife Arms
– Meet with Araminta Campbell, designer of the Fife Arms house tartan and tweed
– Saturday Dinner
– À la carte breakfast on Saturday and Sunday
Book Here
Pop-up Ateliers & Events
Saturday, 18th November
10:30 – 16:30 Judy R Clark Atelier – Braemar Highland Games Pavilion
10:30 – 17:00 Araminta Campbell’s Story of The Fife Arms Tartan and Tweed – Fife Arms Fire Room
13:00 – 14:00 Meet the Designer – Fife Arms Fire Room
11:00 – 13:30 Gray’s School of Art Fashion Student Designs – St Margaret’s Art Centre
13:30 – 16:30 Johnstons of Elgin – Braemar Highland Games Pavilion
Sunday, 19th November
10:30 – 16:30 Judy R Clark Atelier – Braemar Highland Games Pavilion
10:30 – 17:00 Araminta Campbell’s Story of The Fife Arms Tartan and Tweed – Fife Arms Fire Room
10:30-11:30 / 13:00 – 13:30 Johnstons of Elgin – Braemar Highland Games Pavilion
13:00 – 14:00 Meet the Designer: Judy R Clark – Braemar Highland Games Pavilion
