This year’s Small Business Saturday takes place on 3rd December and it is an opportunity to support and promote small businesses in Scotland.
To celebrate Scottish knitwear, Dovecot Studios has invited local designers to take over the pop-up space in-store.
Highlights include Custom Loop, an app developed by Jeni Allison which enables people to personalise knitted scarfs or baby blankets, gansey knits by Di Gilpin, machine knits by Jennifer Kent, and cashmere throws by Kinross-based Todd and Duncan.
Jeni Allison, a knitwear brand based in Edinburgh, utilises and celebrates the historic successful innovation in knitwear which Scotland is famous for by creating contemporary garments and accessories. Orders can be placed in-store and online.
The creator, Jeni Allison, said: “Whilst working for a luxury knitwear manufacturer in the Scottish Borders I saw an opportunity to develop a product which would allow customers to design their own knitwear whilst also making knitwear manufacturing more sustainable.
“Custom Loop is a web-based application which makes it easy for people to customise knitted products and for factories to make the knitted goods to order, eliminating waste from excess stock. By having an input into the design of the product customers also feel more emotional attachment to it, and hopefully keep it longer as a result.
“Running my business through the pandemic and now during the cost of living crisis, is challenging, and a main benefit of Custom Loop is I only pay for stock which has already been purchased, making my business both more environmentally and financially sustainable.
“It’s really important that places like Dovecot exist to introduce the work of small businesses to a larger like-minded audience, especially as social media reach is getting smaller and smaller for small businesses.”
Shoppers will find a variety of brands such as Jennifer Kent studio, which specialises in modern knitwear, accessories and interior products and the Fife-based Di Gilpin, which creates one-off pieces and special commissions desired by private clients, fashion designers, and the catwalk, with a single Di Gilpin garment requiring as long as two months to complete!
The pop-up at Dovecot will also feature Todd and Duncan, founded in 1867: a Kinross-based brand that specialises in cashmere and uses traditional methods with a modern approach. Today they are the only Scottish spinner offering cashmere yarn to fashion houses and quality manufacturers worldwide.
The pop-up coincides with Dovecot’s exhibition; KNITWEAR CHANEL to Westwood. The exhibition showcases over 150 inspirational knitwear pieces from the collection of Mark and Cleo Butterfield as well modern Scottish pieces from the Studio of Di Gilpin and La Fetiche.
Outwith the pop-up, shoppers can find gift ideas produced by Scottish makers and business, including a selection of jewellery, textiles, books, cards, homeware and Edinburgh Printmaker prints – to name a few.
From next month Dovecot will also be introducing a selection of stock produced by Garvald members – a creative community and charity supporting adults with learning disabilities made here in Edinburgh.
The pop-up shop will remain open up until March 2023.
Sarah Boyack Scottish Labour MSP for Lothian region will be at Dovecot Studios this Saturday and she encourages people in Edinburgh to join her.
She commented: “Scotland’s culture organisations are facing ‘a perfect storm.’ Before they even got a chance to recover from the pandemic, they have been hit hard by soaring bills and the chaos of the cost of living emergency.
“The impact on individual artists and makers is unimaginable. In a hostile economic environment, most people can hardly keep afloat, let alone run a viable, small business. The pressures are huge.
“It’s fantastic that Dovecot Studios gives local brands inspired by and celebrating Scotland’s rich cultural heritage and provenance the opportunity to showcase and sell the products right here in Edinburgh.
“Small businesses will face ‘a bleak winter’ – unfortunately, there will be many people who, no matter how much they want to support local makers, they simply can’t afford to do so.
“But if you can, Scotland has a remarkable tradition in arts and crafts – this Small Business Saturday is an excellent opportunity to support them.”