A Black Isle fashion designer is among three modern trailblazers celebrated by one of Scotland’s most iconic whisky distilleries.
Multi award-winning designer Siobhan Mackenzie shared her inspiration and challenges at an event held at Cardhu distillery in Speyside as part of the celebrations for its 200th anniversary.
To mark the occasion, Cardhu is honouring two trailblazing women at the foundations of the business, Helen and Elizabeth Cumming, by collaborating with modern pioneers like Ms Mackenzie as well as Jawahir Al-Mauly (founder of Ujamaa Spice) and Lisa Lawson (founder of Dear Green Coffee Roastery).
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“I think being a pioneer means stepping outside of the box, and not being afraid to do so, experimenting with things and with the unknown,” she said in a video created as part of this partnership.
“Being a female in a male-dominated industry has helped me stand out from the traditional counterparts.”
The entrepreneur, whose outfits have been worn by global celebrities such as Shania Twain, Justin Bieber and Jared Leto. Her proudest moment though, she revealed on the night, was designing Team Scotland’s outfits for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, adding it’s incredibly important to celebrate women in business and pioneers such as Helen and Elizabeth.
“As women it’s really important that we forge our own path,” she podcast Scran, which was being recorded on the night.
“When I started my company 10 years ago, women in Scotland were 50 per cent less likely to start their own company than men, so I hope myself and the other pioneers and women in business in Scotland can pave the way for other women to younger women and any aged women to start their business and take that leap of faith.”
One of her hopes, she shared during the event, is to see more support to creative talents in the fashion industry in Scotland.
“In Scotland, fashion designers don’t really get the same support they do elsewhere in the world.
“Scottish textiles are world-renowned, and provide to some of the biggest luxury fashion houses in the world, so why cannot we create those from Scotland?”
During the night, she also reflected on the challenges she faced and the importance of her family’s support.
She said: “When I was 10 and told them I wanted to be a fashion designer, they just said: ‘OK!’ They never questioned me or tried to change my mind, they have always supported me.
“I was really unwell as a teenager and in my uni application, my art teacher had put me down as a predicted fail.
“And when I went to ask ‘why would you do that? You know what my dream is. And he was like ‘You will never get into college, you will not get into uni or be a fashion designer.’
“But I believed in myself and my family believed in me too, and that took me a long way .”
Ms Mackenzie said she is also working with Cardhu on a new project which, however, is still under wraps.
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