News Release: Immediate Release

08.09.11

Wardrobe Essentials

This month Concrete Wardrobe treats us to a Harris Tweed double bill. October 2011’s complementary Makers of the Month are textile designer makers Ruth Morris a.k.a. Roobedo, and Edinburgh based Katherine Emtage.

Roobedo’s range includes clothing and home-wares. Emtage’s range focuses on handbags and accessories. Both collections utilise the traditional hand woven cloth in contemporary and imaginative ways.

Since graduating in 1993, Morris has exhibited internationally. She set up Roobedo in 2000 and has personally handmade every garment, accessory, interior product and eclectic creation since its inception. Her inspirations are the seascapes and natural colours of the Outer Hebridean Islands. Its rich history, wild skies, birds, flowers and shorelines are influences Morris uses to evoke, shape and create her pieces, using stitch, print and felting techniques.

Emtage moved to Scotland in 2000, and has been captivated by the Scottish landscape ever since. She started working in Harris Tweed in 2004 and hasn’t looked back. She enthuses, “Scottish tweed is a wonderful fabric. It's warm, beautiful, hardwearing and sensual. It combines practicality with indulgence.” Her designs are contemporary with a vintage feel. They explore the textural possibilities of the tweed through ruching, pin-tucking and folding the fabric to create three-dimensional effects. New designs exemplify the rich jewel tones of the tweed through colour blocking. Contrasting textures are emphasized, as combinations of wooly tweed with sumptuous velvets, chunky metal zips and shiny metal purse frames.

Of her first exhibition in the Scottish capital since starting a family, Morris commented, “Concrete Wardrobe was a huge support to me when I started out, providing the perfect platform to promote my work. I am so excited to be returning, it feels like I’m coming home!”

Fiona McIntosh, Co-owner of Concrete Wardrobe observed, “October’s Maker of the Month exhibition is a fantastic display of the design potential of Harris Tweed, and the diverse applications it has in contemporary contexts, from two well established Scottish based designer makers.”

Concrete Wardrobe continues to support and promote high quality artists and makers by specializing in Scottish design led craft.

Roobedo and Katherine Emtage’s work will be on display at Concrete Wardrobe from 1^st to 31^st October 2011.

Concrete Wardrobe is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm. (Sunday 12 - 4pm.)

Concrete Wardrobe 50a Broughton Street, Edinburgh EH1 3SA

ENDS

PR: Katherine Emtage. Co-Owners: James Donald & Fiona McIntosh