A Shop to Visit — Le Kilt, Edinburgh

Samantha McCoach, the founder of Le Kilt, practised patience when thinking about her first permanent store space. The opportunity arrived this year where the brand began – in Edinburgh’s Leith. “I grew up here, so it was always where I wanted Le Kilt to have a home,” she says.

Le Kilt Room, opened in August, is located deep inside Brown’s of Leith, a former factory renovated in November and now featuring restaurants and creative studios. Samantha says this context — a space without a shop front — suited Le Kilt perfectly. “I’d just come back from Tokyo, where I loved the hidden-away stores you have to seek out,” she says. “Soon after, we were offered this space, and it just felt right.”

If she now lives in London the majority of the time, Le Kilt Room opening in Edinburgh is a full circle moment that provides Samantha with time to reconnect with where she comes from. In Edinburgh she likes taking “long morning walks up Arthur’s Seat — having something so wild in the middle of the city still amazes me. Chips drenched in chippy sauce, long dinners at Fishers in the Shore. Simple things that always feel like home.”

Open for walk-ins over the weekend and by appointment during the week, the design of Le Kilt Room reflects the fact that this isn’t a conventional shop. Along with items from the brand, there are surprises. “I wanted to create almost an artistic backdrop for the clothes,” says Samantha “so the space brings together references beyond tartan and checks — from weathered Salomon walking boots to books and [other] objects.”

The books come from a new sideline — Lena Books, launched this year, sells cult titles that have been part of the brand’s research (the aim is to eventually create their own books). Add furniture like a centrepiece made by local craftsman Jethro Rainer and this is a space to shop — but also discover, and hang out.

Founded in 2014 after Samantha graduated from the RCA, Le Kilt has become the in-the-know brand for a modern take on classic kilts as well as the kind of pieces (sweaters, cardigans) that work well with them. It’s this same spirit that inspired the feel of the store. “There’s something about that sense of discovery that feels very Le Kilt — quiet, slightly unexpected, with an edge,” says Samantha.