Picking your tartan is no easy task. Should you favour tradition and wear your clan colours, with a kilt passed down through the family, or choose a punk styling by Vivienne Westwood? Is it the dress of revolt, worn by Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite rebels, or the uniform of repression, taken up by the British army and once even used to clothe enslaved people? Is it a cringe on shortbread tins or the unifying weave of Scots nationhood?
Tartan is, above all, a cloth of contradiction. And that is the refrain that runs through a new exhibition at the V&A Dundee charting this instantly, globally recognisable textile’s journey from simple highland craft to mass-produced superbrand. “Tartan is linked to a hugely diverse range of identities,” says gallery director Leonie Bell. “It is the cloth of the establishment, of political power, regal power, military power. Yet at the same time, it’s a symbol of subcultures and new identities, whether that’s 1970s punks or Japanese fashion influencers today.”
