Next season’s must-have accessory: a salmon!
Fashion models wear all kinds of weird and wonderful outfits on the runway, but Scottish salmon farmer Loch Duart’s marketing manager Adam Gray might be the first to have appeared carrying a fish.
Gray was taking part in the annual Dressed to Kilt charity fashion show, held at Mill Neck Manor, Long Island, New York, and partly sponsored by Loch Duart.
Guests enjoyed a performance from Scottish singer Edward Reid and a taste of Loch Duart hors d’oeuvres at the show, which is a platform for leading fashion designers whose work incorporated a tartan style inspired by the event’s theme of “Dress for Adventure: From the Highlands to the Hamptons”.
Tartan and oilskin
For Gray, that meant sporting a Glen Orchy Tweed jacket and waistcoat with Oban Mist tartan supplied by Glasgow-based kilt supplier Macgregor and Macduff.
But he also donned a bib and brace oilskin trouser for a trip down the runway with a Loch Duart salmon.
Loch Duart sales director Chris Orr said: “We were thrilled for Loch Duart salmon to not only feature on the menu but also on the runway,” adding that like high-end fashion houses, Loch Duart is a luxury brand.
“At Loch Duart, it’s in our DNA to innovate and do things differently, so we wanted to do something fun to promote our unique Scottish salmon,” said Orr. “The USA is a key market for us, and Loch Duart is much loved by American foodies, chefs, and restaurateurs. We see lots more potential to grow the brand in the coming years ahead.”
Connery ‘would have loved it’
Dressed to Kilt was co-founded in 2003 by Sir Sean Connery and is now an annual charity event which brings together leading Scottish designers and famous Scots in the US in a celebration of Scottish-American culture, food, fashion, and music.
Dr Geoffrey Carroll, Dressed to Kilt co-founder and managing director, said: “This year’s DTK show was one of the best ever. After several years of a global pandemic the spirit and enthusiasm of everyone involved was incredible.”
He added that Connery always insisted on using the event to promote the best of Scotland to the world and “would have loved the Loch Duart model in his oilskins and holding a big Scottish salmon on the runway as much as all the attendees did”.
Loch Duart, which farms in Sutherland and the Uists, produces around 6,000 gutted weight tonnes of salmon annually, much of it supplied to the food service industry. The company is owned by US-based sustainable investor Vision Ridge Partners, which has offices in New York and Boulder, Colorado.
