On September 3rd 2015, the Scots invaded London. Amidst the chaos of flashbulbs, the great and good of the Scottish fashion world stormed the red carpet of Whitehall’s Corinthia hotel to claim what was rightfully theirs at the industry’s annual Scottish Fashion Awards ceremony.

Embracing leading names and rising talent alike, this year’s titan was Christopher Kane (Scottish Designer of the Year, now for the fourth year running), and also victorious were Hunter (Scottish Accessory Designer of the Year) and Pringle of Scotland (Founders Award). Misha Hart (currently the face of Paul and Joe) was lauded Scottish Model of the Year and Cats Brothers picked up Young Designers of the Year, judged by a panel which included Stella Tennant and Rankin. VIPs included The Vamps, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sam McKnight, Henry Holland, Lucy Watson, indie rockers The View, Conor Maynard and Caroline Rush MBE. Guests dined on Caledonian-themed canapés such as haggis bon bons and mini Angus beef burgers with Dunlop cheese and drank Liquid Gold prosecco, which was served from saltire blue metallic bottles.

We caught up with Stylist Nick Ede, who was presented with the ‘Fashion Philanthropist Award’ (for his ‘Famous Last Words’ celebrity t-shirt collaboration in aid of The Stroke Association) as he shared his thoughts on the night. “I was very pleased to see that Christopher Kane won again this year,” Ede begins “, his work is genius and I love the attention to detail of his designs. The other winner I was glad to see on the podium was David Eustace he is a brilliant photographer and I think that his style is iconic…”

Does Ede (who has lived and worked in London for over a decade) still consider himself to be a Scotsman? “Yes I do always feel very Scottish!” he enthuses “, I think that living in Edinburgh and Glasgow I got the best of both worlds. Scottish people are very resilient and have a really strong sensibility which I always apply to everyday situations. I am very proud to be Scottish and although I sound very English without any accent some days a small hint of one creeps out when I say things like ‘a wee bit’ and my friends always laugh at it…”

Does he think the Scottish Fashion industry gets a bad rep, globally? “I don’t think the fashion world thinks of Scottish fashion as tartan but I do think most individuals do. I think the Awards are a great way of highlighting fantastic designers and also the brilliant fabrics that Scotland provides, including Harris Tweed. There are also some amazing models who have come out of Scotland too such as Talli Lennox…”

Ede continues the conversation by telling us about the charity campaign for which he has been recognised at the ceremony: “I have been a volunteer for The Stroke Association and Stroke Awareness in general now for 18 years since my mother passed away from one in 1997. Each year I have built up more ways of creating awareness and I wanted to do something that would start a conversation, hence the idea of ‘famous last words’ came to mind. When you have a stroke some people suffer from aphasia which is when you cannot articulate your feelings through speech. Asking celebrities like Mel B, Kelly Osbourne and bloggers like Zoella to get involved makes them also think about their own mortality and how they would be remembered - the concept has been very well received by the fashion press and beyond … plus we have sold thousands of the t-shirts because they have a strong message but are affordable and cool.”

We remark that his outfit for the night is quite headline-grabbing and we asked who else’s had caught his keen Stylist’s eye. “I didn’t want to go for a conventional black tie look. The light wool and silk fabric was perfect for the occasion with his blue hue and I teamed it with a bright sky blue shirt and handmade silk dark blue tie. I wore my evoke socks and some sturdy Clarks brogues to keep me footloose all night. Oh and a slow watch – it always catches people’s eyes as it has only one hand. I have been filming a new TV show with the singer Sophie Ellis Bextor and as part of that I styled her for the awards – she wore a Kolchagov Barba dress which fitted over her baby bump perfectly and some killer Louboutins teamed with a huge pair of Lulu Guinness lips…Other stars who caught my eye were the singer Tallia Storm and of course Pam Hogg; she looked fabulous, if a wee bit intimidating…”

The Awards were appropriately called to a close with the strains of a bagpiper as Ede and his fellow Highlanders got set to do battle on the dancefloor at the afterparty.

Find out more about Nick Ede’s ‘Famous Last Words’ campaign:
https://www.stroke.org.uk/what-we-do/our-collaborations/style-stroke