Siobhan has kindly asked me to photograph some of her amazing kilt designs before, but never before has she asked….”what are you doing next Friday Tommy, fancy a day trip up to Inverness for a shoot”?….she says. Eh, no thanks says I, it’s a wee bit far away…. “So you don’t want to meet the Fashion News Editor from Elle in the US, who’s over to interview me and wants some images for the magazine”? Nearly drove up there straight away 🙂

I duly met up with Siobhan and Naomi Rougeau from Elle and we headed off to meet with none other than The Earl and Countess of Cromartie. The Earl (John MacKenzie) being the Clan Chieftain of the Clan MacKenzie, at his home at Castle Leod, the Seat of the Clan MacKenzie….clearly the pressure on me hadn’t ramped up at all 🙂

We spent a couple of hours working in and around the castle and grounds of this beautiful and historic place. By this time one of Siobhan’s friends Beth had joined us to be part of the shoot. This wasn’t a fashion shoot as such, this was more about Naomi pulling together her story around the major rise in popularity in the US for all things tartan and Siobhan’s kilt designs.

The castle itself was the inspiration for Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling Outlander novels, which spawned the hugely successful TV series in the US….hence part of the reason for the rise in popularity of tartan, particularly in the fashion world this Autumn (Fall).

After being wonderfully hosted by John and Eve, we set off to have a private tour at Johnstons of Elgin, who have been making cashmere and fine woollen cloth, knitwear and accessories in Scotland since 1797…and who supply Siobhan with some of the materials for her kilts.

The November issue of Elle US and the UK edition are now available on the shelves and whilst they obviously couldn’t use all of the images that I took, I hope this blog lets you see a bit more of what went on, on this most excellent of days.

It’s amazing to see how Siobhan’s reputation for her beautiful kilt designs is growing far and wide and hopefully this article will only enhance her status further.