Day: September 18, 2026

Edinburgh College of Art alumni to share career journeys at Westfield St James Quarter

In Fashion: Edinburgh College of Art Alumni in Conversation takes place TODAY – Friday 18 September – as part of Westfield Days: The Sound of Style

Westfield St James Quarter will bring together four Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) fashion alumni on Friday 18 September, who have gone on to build careers across independent fashion, illustration and bespoke tailoring, for a conversation on what it takes to forge a career in the fashion industry.

In Fashion: Edinburgh College of Art Alumni in Conversation is one of the closing events of Westfield Days: The Sound of Style, the ten-day fashion and music takeover curated by Scottish designer Charles Jeffrey to mark the centre’s rebrand to Westfield St James Quarter on 10 September.

Hosted by Professor Mal James, Personal Chair of Fashion at ECA, the panel brings together:

  • Samantha McCoach, Founder and Designer of Le Kilt, the Leith-born, Scottish-made label stocked at Dover Street Market, Matches and Selfridges. In 2025, Le Kilt joined forces with COS for a capsule collection rooted in craftsmanship and heritage, which was sold at COS in the Quarter.
  • Rosie Baird, Founder of BAIRD, a Scottish clothing brand launched in 2025 exploring modern Scottish identity through craft and storytelling. Rosie was also responsible for the tartan created for St James Quarter in 2022.
  • Katie Braid, fashion illustrator, educator and FIDA Award winner, whose work has been exhibited internationally and shown at V&A Dundee.
  • Alistair Nimmo, Head Cutter and Managing Director of Kathryn Sargent Bespoke Tailoring’s Edinburgh atelier, and a 2025 Walpole Powerlist honouree.

Together, the four alumni represent very different routes into the fashion industry, from launching independent Scottish labels to working as an illustrator and building a career in the highly specialised world of bespoke tailoring.

The panellists will discuss the transition from studying at ECA to building careers across ready-to-wear, illustration and bespoke tailoring, offering practical advice on portfolios, creative practice and navigating the industry after graduation. A Q&A and informal meet-the-panellists session will follow the discussion.

Professor Mal James, Personal Chair of Fashion at Edinburgh College of Art, said: “One of the most valuable things we can offer the next generation of fashion talent is an honest insight into what comes after graduation.

“There is no single route into the industry, and our alumni have gone on to build careers across very different areas of fashion, from independent labels and illustration to the highly specialised world of bespoke tailoring.

“Bringing them together at Westfield St James Quarter gives students and emerging creatives the chance to hear directly about those journeys, the challenges they have faced and the opportunities they have created for themselves.”

Presented in partnership with the British Fashion Council as part of the nationwide Fashion Britain initiative, Westfield Days: The Sound of Style has run from 10 to 20 September and included Charles Jeffrey’s own Listening Room installation, built from his personal archive and soundscapes, and the PUNK FLEA MARKET, a limited-time pop-up of archival LOVERBOY pieces and accessories, alongside a wider programme of talks, workshops and live music.

Anne Ledgerwood, Estate Director at Westfield St James Quarter, said: “Fashion careers rarely follow a straight line, and this conversation with four ECA graduates who’ve built such different paths – from bespoke tailoring to independent Scottish labels – feels like the right way to bring Westfield Days: The Sound of Style to a close. It’s a reminder that Edinburgh doesn’t just watch the fashion industry, it produces it.”

The event is free to attend and is aimed at students, emerging creatives and anyone interested in pursuing a career in Scotland’s fashion industry.

The conversation reflects Westfield Days: The Sound of Style’s focus on connecting fashion, music, creativity and emerging talent, while highlighting Edinburgh’s contribution to the wider UK fashion industry.

Event details In Fashion: Edinburgh College of Art Alumni in Conversation
Date/ Time: Friday 18 September, 3:30pm–4:15pm
Venue: Listening Rooms, Level 3, St James Quarter, Edinburgh
Booking link: here.

Community-Led Campaign Secures £1.86 Million Visitor Levy Investment

SUCCESS AT LAST FOR THE CAUSEY AFTER NINETEEN YEAR CAMPAIGN

Council backing will unlock the permanent transformation of the historic Southside space into a greener, safer and more welcoming place for residents and visitors.

A 19-year community campaign to transform The Causey in Edinburgh’s Southside is set to become reality following approval of £1.86 million from the city’s Visitor Levy programme.

The investment will enable the permanent transformation of West Crosscauseway and its traffic island into a vibrant, people-focused public place, with widened pavements, traffic-calming measures, segregated cycling facilities and a new accessible public space.

Combined with £300,000 already being provided through the Council’s core budget, the funding will support delivery of the project’s two phases over the next two years. The published Visitor Levy recommendation comprises £462,000 towards key infrastructure improvements at the Causey Triangle and £1.4 million for the second phase, extending the work towards Nicolson Street to improve connectivity and the wider public realm. 

The decision represents a defining moment for a project first conceived in 2007, when the late Edinburgh architect Alison Blamire transformed the neglected traffic island into a temporary “tropical island”, allowing local people to experience its potential as a place for people rather than vehicles.

Alison Blamire also gave the space its name: “The Causey” derives from the “cassies” or “causeys” – the cobbled setts that paved Edinburgh’s earliest streets, likely quarried from nearby Salisbury Crags. Since then, The Causey has grown into one of Edinburgh’s longest-running community placemaking campaigns.

Local residents have sustained the vision through workshops, exhibitions, consultations, creative events, street activations and regular “Sit Oots”, building support for a permanent transformation of the space. Previous coverage has highlighted the project’s long community history and the persistence required to overcome funding delays and other setbacks.

The project has previously been hailed as an exemplary community initiative and has been developed through collaboration between Causey Development Trust, local residents, City of Edinburgh Council officers, the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust, Edinburgh World Heritage and landscape architects Ironside Farrar. The current council papers formally describe it as a community-led project and recognise that it originated as a community initiative.

Sarah Drummond, Chair of Causey Development Trust, said: “This is a transformational moment for The Causey and the culmination of 19 years of extraordinary determination by local people.

“What began with local architect Alison Blamire’s inspired transformation of a traffic island into a tropical island can now become the permanent, welcoming and people-focused space that the community has always known was possible.

“This is a powerful example of what community-led action can achieve. Local people have shaped the vision, sustained it through years of setbacks and continued to demonstrate how this neglected space could bring people together.

“The Causey also shows exactly how Visitor Levy investment can work for Edinburgh. It will improve everyday life for residents while creating a greener, safer and more welcoming experience for visitors moving through the city’s Southside and festival footprint.

“We are enormously grateful to everyone who has kept faith with this project, including our volunteers, local residents and businesses, councillors from across the political spectrum, council officers and the many partner organisations who have helped us reach this point. This investment means that, after nearly two decades, the community’s full vision can finally be delivered.”

Located on the edge of Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site and within the Southside Conservation Area, The Causey sits on a busy route connecting residential communities with major cultural, educational and visitor destinations.

It is within walking distance of Assembly Roxy, Festival Theatre, Summerhall, George Square and Edinburgh Futures Institute, home of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The Council’s Visitor Levy assessment specifically identifies the site’s location within Edinburgh’s festival footprint and the benefits it can offer festivalgoers as well as residents.

The transformed space will be designed to support informal gatherings and community-led activity, as well as potential outdoor performances, pop-up markets, art installations and exhibitions. New public-realm and active-travel infrastructure will create a safer, more attractive environment for people walking, wheeling and cycling.

The project builds on the implementation of the Traffic Regulation Order in July 2026, which introduced the first physical changes at the site following the long-running campaign.

The permanent capital works will complete the wider vision for The Causey as a civic space for culture, connection and community life.