Black & White cuts Tartan deal

Black & White Publishing will publish The Secret Life of Tartan: How a Cloth Shaped a Nation this autumn by fashion designer Victoria ‘Vixy’ Rae.

The owner and creative director of Stewart Christie & Co Ltd, the oldest bespoke tailor in Scotland, Rae described the book as “a visual guide to the poetry of tartan, looking at the origins and dark past of the most majestic of cloths”. The book will cover the types and styles of tartan, exploring colour and craft, texture and cloth, viewing aspects of sustainability, as well as featuring “the people behind the cloth”.

World rights were acquired directly from the author by Campbell Brown, m.d. at Black & White.

“I live and breathe tartan, tweed and woollens," Raye said. "To gather my passion for the cloth that has defined a nation – with unity and rebellion, alike – into this book is a dream come true. I am tailor to a client base that dates back centuries, and the thousands of swatches in our archives tell a wealth of stories connecting past and present that I can’t wait to share with readers. But The Secret Life of Tartan is much more than a history book. The lost art of vegetable dying – which saw tartans match in colour and intensity the Scottish landscapes from which they grew – is one I’d love to reinvigorate, creating a connection with today’s vital focus on sustainability and slow fashion.”

Stewart Christie & Co Ltd was founded in 1720 and is the second oldest business in Edinburgh.