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Walker Slater | Tweed Specialist Rooted in Scottish Heritage

THE WALKER SLATER STORY

THE WALKER SLATER STORY

https://www.walkerslater.com/our-story

 

Walker Slater was founded in 1989 in the Scottish Highlands before later settling in Edinburgh’s Old Town, which is where its headquarters are today. Despite now being over 30 years old, the company has not deviated from its mission, which is to champion the heritage and sustainability of tweed and woollen fabrics through contemporary and elegant clothing.

 

Established by Frances Slater and Paul Walker, who helms the brand as creative director, the company started out with humble beginnings of supplying remote communities with hard-wearing classic clothing to combat the harsh elements. It quickly transcended its roots in the Highlands by moving south and opening outposts in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. Within each store, quaint and charming interiors and passionate staff harmoniously cultivate Walker Slater’s own, unique world and provide customers with an authentic taste of Scotland.

 

Ready-to-wear tailoring is the central part of the offering (made-to-measure is offered, also), with a range of flattering suit styles that appeal to a wide demographic and range of social settings, such as for weddings and business. To sit alongside it, there’s a comprehensive offering of lifestyle garments – from outerwear, shirts, knitwear, denim and silk accessories – for both men and women. Overall, quality reigns supreme, and with Walker’s timeless approach to understated design and deeply-rooted appreciation for fabrics that are sustainably made, its creations are crafted to last.

 

As a result of the fortune of being from Scotland, the palettes of Walker Slater’s collections are inspired by its natural beauty. From the age-old towns and cities with their rustic charm, to the most remote moors and lochs that make even the most intrepid traveller lost for words, the earthy landscapes that reflect off still waters, warm cityscapes, and infinite nuances between them can be seen each season.

 

A fundamental area of the business is working in close proximity with its range of suppliers and mills, most notably the world-renowned Harris Tweed Hebrides. Over the last three decades, Walker Slater has worked season on season with Harris Tweed to create a myriad exclusive fabrics. In addition to that, it also supports and promotes the lesser-known mills in The Borders, as well as specialist mills in Italy and beyond.

 

In 2017, Walker Slater launched a new line called Messrs, which aimed to appeal to a younger, more dynamic audience and it has been a roaring success. It does this through slimmer cuts and eclectic fabrics that are a refreshing and more youthful alternative to the traditional garments the mainline Walker Slater brand produces.

 

Over the years, Walker Slater has had the privilege of collaborating with, and creating garments for, a range of major sporting teams and organisations. Naturally, none fill the company with more pride than Scotland’s national football and rugby teams. In 2014, it worked directly with the Ryder Cup, which was hosted at the exceptional Gleneagles Hotel, and designed a dedicated collection with an exclusive Harris Tweed cloth. In addition, Walker Slater has also designed uniforms for a host of esteemed hotels across the United Kingdom and European Union.

 

With plans for expansion overseas in the next few years, most notably in Japan where there’s immense appreciation for traditional craft and textiles, Walker Slater will continue to do what it’s always done: create exceptional value for money items that are authentic and pure, and above all, represent Scotland on a global scale.

 

Paul Walker: The Walker Slater founder and designer .

Paul Walker: Designing 21st Century tweed

Tony McGuire

1:36 pm February 27, 2017

https://www.scotsman.com/200voices/innovators/walker-slater-tweed/

In a secret green space off of Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, Paul Walker’s studio is packed with tweeds of every imaginable pattern, colour and texture.

The Walker Slater founder and designer thinks the hand-loomed textile can become as diverse a fabric as the Italian denim.

“Tweed is almost becoming the denim of Scotland. The Italian’s do denim very well and Scots do tweed very well,” he says.

Traditional Harris tweed lends colours from the countryside – mossy greens, ocean blues and rugged mountainous browns are on every rail in Walker Slater’s two Edinburgh stores.

Aesthetics to the side for a moment, Paul remarks how tweed is equally functional and beautiful.

“It’s warm, it’s water repellant and it’s carelessly elegant,” he says.

Paul and business partner Frances Slater – a textile designer from Edinburgh – came together to “produce a melange of textiles, a partnership that you know now to be Walker Slater.

Originally working from the Highlands, he helped focus their efforts into tweed.

He recalls: “There was a realisation we had a great resource on our doorstep that wasn’t being utilised.

“I remember going down to the Borders and seeing some of the old Gardener’s fabrics – Gardeners was a mill at the time – and thinking ‘Whoa! These are fantastic’.

“We started making jacketing and it all moved forward from there.”

Borders tweed is generally much lighter a fabric than its Harris counterpart, and the pliable fabric led Paul and Frances to create their first three-piece suit.

Their range of clothing for men and women showcases the versatility of tweed, breathing new life and contemporary relevance into the cloth traditionally associated with country estates and hunting parties.

Milan, Rome, London, Paris and New York designers are all embracing Scottish tweed. Between 2009 and 2012, Scottish tweed output shot up from 450,000 meters to one million meters. Much of this global interest can be linked back to Scotland, designers like Walker Slater and the tweed industry’s own drive to stay relevant.

“The mills on Harris and in the Borders have done well getting the message out to the big players [in fashion] with a product they can buy into,” he says, adding “they buy in to a bit of Scotland with it.”

Walker Slater has enjoyed a boost from several high-profile collaborations with the Ryder Cup, Scottish Football and the Scottish Rugby Union teams, tailoring unique wardrobes for our national sides with homespun cloth.

Paul repeatedly exalts tweed’s rich colours and textures, but he also draws attention to some of its lesser-known charms: “There are things about tweed that you maybe wouldn’t expect.

“As a fabric and as a way of life it has a tremendous heritage. It’s protected by an act of parliament and specific to a sometimes-forgotten region of Scotland. Having been up there, you realise how important it is to the local economy and how it fits in to the way of life there.”

“Sometimes we’ve been notified a delivery might be late due to the good weather allowing Peat cutting to take place. The weavers go outside and cut their Peat for the next winter, so it has this human touch to it.”

Walker Slater designs set out to challenge the traditional tweed ensemble to keep the fabric relevant with modern fashion trends.  Of all his experimenting with the cloth, the lavish three-piece suit holds a special place in their history and development.

“We tried a lot of things – the development through from the really heavy tweeds where it didn’t work, right through to the Borders tweed using fine mixes of wool, cashmere and cotton, developing something that was very wearable in the daytime and for evening wear.”

“We keep to trends that help tweed maintain relevance with shapes and fits that fit in with our ethos which is ‘careless elegance’.

“Careless elegance is something which is really important, not a contrived look – you can pull it together, you can mix it up. and that’s where it becomes a bit rock and roll as well.”

Walker Slater Menswear and Womenswear stores can be found on Victoria Street, Edinburgh.

Edinburgh store: 20 Victoria Street, Edinburgh EH1 2HG / 01312 209750

Walker Slater (Covent Garden), 38 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5AA / 0203 7549787

Walker Slater

For the artist, artisan, and aristocrat in all of us; a heritage from the loom. Tweed and other natural fibre clothing for all occasions.

http://www.walkerslater.com/

https://www.facebook.com/WalkerSlaterTweed

Stores in Edinburgh & London.

Walker Slater has grown naturally from starting in the Highlands in 1989 and have harnessed its years of tailoring experience; in Edinburgh's cobbled Old Town to create rugged tweed jackets and coats, beautiful three pieces suits, and exquisitely handcrafted luggage.