HTA Educational Trust Fabric Bank 2020

Taking our iconic, handwoven cloth from the Outer Hebrides to the talented hands of upcoming Japanese designers.  The HTA’s Educational Trust (HTAET) was delighted to support and donate Harris Tweed® cloth to the Department of International Fashion and Cultural Studies at Bunka Gakuen University, Tokyo earlier this year.

It was an enriched, cultural exchange which resulted in the creation of innovative designs of Harris Tweed® garments, created using the Harris Tweed® cloth donated by the HTAET.  The garments were showcased at the students’ October fashion show and modelled by the designers themselves.

“The students and teaching faculty would like to truly thank the Harris Tweed Authority for their sponsorship and all the people involved who made this possible. Through your kindness and generosity, we truly appreciate your contribution to the learning outcomes of our students. ” – Professor Shibata of Bunka Gakuen University.

For the very first time, the October fashion show was held without an audience, due to Covid-19.   So, the HTA was only delighted to receive a collection of images documenting the entire project from the initial design stage through to the runway show.    It was a six month project with meticulous plans in place, well thought-out designs and final products created with Harris Tweed® cloth by the students themselves.

The International Fashion and Culture Studies Department consists of three programs: fashion styling and coordination, fashion event production and journalism, and stage and film costume design. The combined efforts and talents of the students come together to work in teams, each
pertaining of around 10-15 students, to design and create nine different and interesting collections to contribute to make one fashion show.
This year’s fashion show, named “Σ Sigma”,  represented the individuality and different characteristics of each designer and the HTAET was proud to see such creations come out of the project, inspired by our islands’ handwoven Harris Tweed® fabric.  The final designs came together as a unique Japanese take on a truly Scottish textile,  incorporating various techniques of layering and pleating – paying a homage to the traditional Scottish Kilt and suiting techniques.

Students were ‘delighted to have the chance to work with such a high-quality Harris Tweed® textile’. Something they said is a ‘rare opportunity that most young designers don’t get.’