The Process: D.S Dundee

Up next in our ongoing series are Scottish label D.S Dundee. Starting out as a streetwear company in 1994, D.S Dundee have evolved into a heritage-inspired label focusing on wardrobe staples. Add the fact that the large majority of their clothing is created within the UK and you have a company with a compelling process to tell. Read about it after the leap.

We have a substantial collection of research images in our studio. I supplement that with days and days spent at the Imperial War Museum and V & A’s phenomenal photographic archives. Often how a detail appears in some aging blurred print taken in the middle of battle can turn into an entirely different detail.

For instance, there was a beautiful smudged texture on a bad reproduction of a photograph of a Scottish soldier during WW1 that has evolved into an amazing new quilting detail for a jacket lining for FW2010. At the same time, I really try to evoke an emotional response from our fabric and colour choice– imagine the colours and patterns if Terence Davies were to direct an optimistic Scottish film.

On a pragmatic level, we develop and push our most popular styles: the Shooting Jacket, our signature Tweed Suits, and Scottish jumpers. We are lucky to have an in house tailor and sampling room, so our designs are developed and perfected right here.

Our shirting is made at Rayner & Sturges in Kent, outerwear at Cooper & Stollbrand in London, the knits up in Hawick, Scotland, umbrellas and we’re starting to make our boots at Cheaney in Northhampton. We couldn’t find a production tailor in the UK, so we get our tailoring manufactured in Portugal. Most of our accessories are made by a guy in East London who also machines very specialized parts for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines, or at least that is what he told us. Most importantly, because of our sample room we can also do small runs of production here.