Scottish pride gives traditional kilts a lift
By Andrew Bolger
Published: August 25 2008 03:00 | Last updated: August 25 2008 03:00
Houston Traditional Kiltmakers has survived and thrived for a century through a powerful combination of traditional craft manufacturing skills and a knack for moving with the commercial and cultural times.
Customers from all over the world come to Paisley, seven miles west of Glasgow, to acquire a “super hand finish” Houston garment. Ken MacDonald – the third generation of his family to run the business – unabashedly describes this as “our Rolls-Royce or Savile Row of kilts”.
The price tag – up to £600 ($1,100) – reflects the labour that goes into each garment. Kiltmakers with more than 25 years of experience take eight yards of material, stitching 23 knife pleats from the inside and producing a garment that is guaranteed to last its owner through a lifetime of family weddings and Burns Night dinners.
The technique has remained the same since Mr MacDonald's grandfather founded a general men's wear shop on the high street in Paisley. But by the time he followed his father into the business in 1975 traditional Scottish wear represented just a fraction of its takings. He recalls: “We would have been lucky if we sold six kilts in a year.”
However, the young man quickly realised that he could capitalise on the mass closure of traditional high street men's wear shops as out-of-town shopping centres mushroomed and retail chains became increasingly powerful.
Mr MacDonald says: “When I started, there were probably 300 independent men's wear shops in Scotland – now you'd be lucky if there are 30.”
Houston's answer was to play up its credentials as a bespoke manufacturer, focusing on “Highlandwear” – not just kilts, but complete outfits – including jackets, shirts, sporrans and the dress daggers known as sgian dubhs . Kilts range in price from £200 to £600, with complete outfits costing between £500 and £1,200.
Mr MacDonald was also early to grasp the impact of globalisation. He realised his potential market extended to the entire Scottish diaspora. With some 50m people claiming Scottish descent, more than half of Houston's sales now go outside Scotland.
Another important element in the company's success was the speed with which it appreciated the way the internet would revolutionise retailing. The company, which employs 14 people, offers online videos and brochures, and claims to be the only shop in Scotland that can show every commercially produced tartan. It offers Irish, American and Canadian patterns, and also has a flourishing dress hire business, which rents out more than 5,000 kilts a year.
His business has also been boosted by a heightened pride in national identity that has been one of the offshoots of devolution. Mr MacDonald reckons sales have benefited from younger Scots' increasing enthusiasm for displaying their origins.
“I wore a kilt every day when I went to school," he said. "It was a pain because you used to be called a Jessie. But now kids are delighted to wear kilts for school proms and weddings.”
Like any other textiles business, Houston has had to contend with imports from India, Pakistan and China that use synthetic fibres. Earlier this year Lidl, the budget supermarket chain, was selling kilts for £24.99 to coincide with the birthday of Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns.
But
Mr MacDonald is confident that quality will always find a market.
He believes the real cost of premium kilts has come down in recent years, thanks to increased competition among mills that has lowered the cost of tartan.
But there is one cloud on the horizon – a looming skills shortage as his best craftsmen approach retirement. “Our youngest kiltmaker is 54, and the rest of them are in their late 50s,” says Mr MacDonald. “But I'm sure we will tackle that problem when we have to.”
He is working with Scottish Enterprise, the development body, to develop a kite mark to authenticate Scottish-made tartans and kilts.
But perhaps the clearest sign that Mr MacDonald's faith in the future of his business and the enduring appeal of kilts is not misplaced is his 22-year-old son, Ewan. Two years ago he became the fourth generation of the family to join the business.
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