My Life In Scotland: Kestin Hare
I was born in Edinburgh and got shipped off to a boarding school. I was there from eight to 18, and had to join its Combined Cadet Force (CCF). I wasn’t really interested in shooting anything, but I was interested in the uniform, the quality of it, and how it was put together.
My grandfather was a Spitfire pilot in the war. He was a dapper, stylish guy who appreciated quality and liked Grenson and Tricker’s. He handed his RAF jacket down to me, and I remember cutting a pattern from that and recreating it. He was a big inspiration for me. I still collect vintage militaria.
My mum was an interior designer, and my dad was an architect. She always had fabrics lying around the house and they caught my interest too. No matter your discipline, you’re moulded by your experiences as you grow up, and then you create your own path. It took me a little bit of time to figure it out: Who were we? What were we doing? Where were we going? Eventually I worked out the answers for me very much boil down to Scotland.
I didn’t realise how special Scotland was growing up. I always felt like I needed to be in London, so I left at 18 to study fashion. Wherever you’re from, though, I think you have an inbuilt beacon that calls you back home. I felt it when my wife became pregnant, but it wasn’t an option to come home. I was freelancing with Margaret Howell and Burberry in London, and at the time that was the only place you could work in fashion. But I missed my family in Scotland, the banter with the people, and the open spaces – 40 minutes from Edinburgh and you can be on the most incredible beaches.
Kestin
Kestin
The fashion industry has changed now. I have a mate with a menswear brand in Nottingham. The other day we agreed that it wasn’t really acceptable or respected to be a brand outside London back then, but now being from Nottingham or Edinburgh gives you a story. We can be a Scottish brand, we don’t have to pretend to be a London one.
Edinburgh has changed too. It’s become a cool city that people want to live in. It’s got the architecture, the food, the countryside, but also the international links – we were just in New York for menswear fashion week and we got back here quicker than if we’d been going back to London. People are coming to us from Norse Projects in Copenhagen because they want to relocate. For a brand like ours, the talent is here now.
Leith is like Hackney was 20 years ago. This is the old port area where our studio is. It’s got amazing restaurants producing affordable, high-quality, very ground-breaking food. The chefs have trained with the likes of Tom Kitchin, going off to get a cheap lease on a small restaurant of their own and starting from here. Edinburgh used to be very kind of white tablecloth and stuffy, but it’s become more multicultural and gone through a change for the better.
Kestin
At our shop in Stockbridge, we get customers who appreciate quality. We’re anti-hype; we’re doing classic menswear with an edge that’s for 20 year olds or 75 year olds. That point of view – plus the quality – hopefully gives us longevity.
Menswear always excites me. I’ve been doing this 25 years – ten years as Kestin – and I love how style changes and evolves. The customer is so well educated and knowledgeable now. They want to talk about manufacturing and fabrics. That was always quite a French thing, but people here have become keen to look different, to look individual. There always used to be the ‘pub test’: if you walked into the pub dressed like that, would your mates laugh at you? Edinburgh’s much more accepting now and that’s great for menswear.
Fabric technology is now some space-age sh*t. Fabric is the base point for a garment, but it’s also where trends are set. We’ve just launched some suiting in 37.5 Degree fabric that regulates your body temperature. That’s mad. But I also love seeing fabric in the mills, whether that’s a Japanese one we’re buying some cloth from or a Scottish mill. And that’s kind of what Kestin is – a mash-up of that Scottish mill heritage and performance fabric innovation.
Kestin
Kestin
Scottish products stand for quality. Whether it’s whisky or woollens or salmon or shellfish, there’s a heritage of quality and that’s a great story to tell right now. The likes of Fyne Audio are doing this, but it’s not a story we as a people have always been good at telling. It’s one we need to tell, though: you can design the best product in the world, but if you can’t tell its story, nobody will know about it. We’re realising we’ve got an amazing past and an amazing countryside that we can draw on for depth and quality. We just need to put a modern slant on it – which is what my mates who are doing up bothies on the Isle of Skye are doing, what Munro Vehicles are doing with their all-electric 4x4, or what my friend who runs Auld Hag in London is doing for Tennent’s and full Scottish breakfasts.
Younger generations want to get outside now. When I was young, the attitude was more like that scene in Trainspotting where they all get the train into the countryside and wonder what the hell they’re doing there. That’s completely shifted and it’s a great thing for Scotland – because where better to get outside? The landscape’s not going anywhere, and there are lots more stories to tell, so long may this all continue.
If you’re coming to Scotland for the first time, go to Edinburgh for a couple of nights and then head out into the Western Isles. Try Skye and Lewis and Harris – the landscapes there are like nothing else you’ll see, especially on Skye where you’ll be dwarfed by the Cuillin mountains, and you can also find a white coral beach with cows in the water. I called one of my daughters Skye because of how special this place is. April and May or September and October are the golden times – less touristy and no midges. Skye’s easy to get to because of the bridge. If you’ve got more time, go further. It can take a while, but the places you find will be inspirational. Scottish hotels can be expensive, but you can always get out of your comfort zone and share a bothy with somebody you don’t know.
To see Kestin’s latest collections, visit Kestin.co
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