Le Kilt (Q5000)

There are people who subscribe to the Great Man theory of history, which charges that singular actors drive the course of world events. And then there are those who believe that change comes from below, as a great many individuals adjust their beliefs and practices until a critical mass emerges, and then—just like that—the world is different than it was before. Apropos the rise of Trump, we all seem to be living in a state of anxiety galvanized by the fear that, indeed, one singular actor can rewrite society. Samantha McCoach’s Le Kilt presentation in London was a salve for that anxiety: Through her work, modest in ambition though it may be, McCoach exemplifies the possibility that we, the many, can remake the world by taking responsibility for our own actions.Does that seem like too much meaning to heap on a small-ish collection of sweaters, ’60s-inspired A-line dresses, denim looks, and, yes, kilts? It doesn’t if you consider McCoach’s approach to making her clothes. The denim, a new addition her line, was produced in collaboration with Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, a London-based brand of sustainable denim so fussy about its supply chain, it grows its own indigo. Several other looks, such as the rubberized cotton and wool check dresses, were done in collaboration with Mackintosh, the original “mac” makers, with McCoach plucking dead stock materials from the company archives and working with employees of long-standing at Mackintosh’s Scotland factory. Several of the Le Kilt knits, meanwhile, came from McCoach’s ongoing collaboration with Sanquhar Pattern Designs, a likewise Scottish collective of knitters, with roots going back to the 17th century.You could look at McCoach’s bundled initiatives and see a designer making a lot of extra work for herself. Surely it would be easier and cheaper for her to outsource production of these garments, and there would be no aesthetic loss in doing so. You’d have the same appealing mix of kilt-style skirts with a slightly punkish sneer to them, and staple items like raw denim jeans and durable pullovers. Or, you could see this collection the way McCoach does, as the creative end result of her pursuit of manufacturing integrity. To wit, at her evening presentation, McCoach noted that her collection’s sense of structure was coaxed out of the materials she discovered at the Mackintosh factory and at Blackhorse Lane Ateliers. The stiff, raw denim and rubberized cotton drove the look here.