Westwood weaves her way to Scotland

I love fresh and new ideas

Dame Vivienne flouts the credit crunch to open a store in Glasgow

Vivienne Westwood is talking tartan.“The kilt is a wonderful garment on its own, but tartans are absolutely brilliant,” she says. “It’s a heroic image, the kilt flying and the idea of climbing mountains in this garb with the wind blowing at you.”

And if you think that’s effusive, wait until she gets started on Harris tweed. It is simply “wonderful”, says Dame Vivienne. “You can’t make a bad anything with it. It lends itself to the body. The texture is brilliant; it’s tactile, yet it will take a form and hold it. And the colours are so atmospheric. It’s a misty, British thing. The clouds are lower as they come across the Atlantic, you don’t have the high clouds and blue sky of the Continent.”

Despite her long-standing enthusiasm for Scotland’s natural fabrics, Westwood is only now opening a store here — in Glasgow’s smart Princes Square mall. She will hope to fare better than designers such as Nicole Farhi, Katharine Hamnett and Versace, who have all opened, and closed, stores in the city. Glaswegians, who love ostentation, especially when it carries a designer label, will flock to the new Westwood outlet, which will offer everything from her Gold Label semi-couture line to cheaper ranges and perfume. But for how long?

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