Responding to the shocking ‘Highland Rape’ collection in 1995 A/W. I started considering the transatlantic relationships between Scotland and North America, in terms of the British Empire. Western relationships, within a historical context, their adornments, such as the Highland dress or the Indian clothing, fascinate me. Some ethnic cultures and their identity were grafted or disjoined whereby it triggered me to explore ‘the authenticity of cruelty’.

Juxtaposing cultures and cultural integration, abutments between historical transgression and contemporary uncertainty, my aim is to sabotage them and create a quixotic collection which reflects the secularization of a Western stereotypical icon, such as Tartan check, Balmoral bonnet, Glengarry hat, feather accessory and checkered pattern.

For checked pattern of the band around the forehead, flat crystals will be sandwiched between parspex and leather while, for the toorie (pompom), crystal beads will be riveted to cover the leather ball. On one hand, Swarovski crystals provoke an eternal elegance of high culture; on the other, worn vegetable tanned leather and its hand stitching provoke the sense of nostalgia and fragility of craftsmanship.