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Get Set for the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival

Forget London and Paris – there’s a new European capital city preparing to take the fashion world by storm. From the 26th to the 29th of April, the beautiful city of Edinburgh will play host to collections by the very best up-and-coming Scottish designers. Feast your eyes on Scottish-born Jonathan Saunders’ gorgeous screen-printed dresses, each one intricately crafted using up to twenty different silk screens. Delicate and feminine yet extremely wearable, Saunders’ garments are sure to be top of every Edinburgh girl’s spring wish-list. Make sure you don’t miss out on his show ‘Elegance in Black and White’ at the Assembly Rooms on the 27th of April.

It’s not just fabulous local talent on offer at Europe’s newest fashion festival. A favourite of Sienna Miller and Sarah Jessica Parker, designer Matthew Williamson brings his show ‘Colour, Pattern and Form’ to the Signet Library on the 29th of April. As the recipient of the Elle Designer of the Year Award 2004 and the Moet et Chandon Tribute 2005, Williamson presents four women’s wear collections every year in New York, and has recently opened his flagship store on London’s Bruton Street. His beautiful garments are amazingly detailed, and his bold use of colour means that this collection is bound to be one of the most eye-catching in the Scottish Capital this spring.

Impressively, the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival has secured one of fashion’s most successful and charismatic designers for a special one-off show. Dame Vivienne Westwood will present ‘Fabric of Scotland’ to a no-doubt packed Ballroom in the Assembly rooms on the 26th of April. Exploring her use of Scottish textiles in her past collections, this promises to be a real highlight of the Festival, and a rare treat for the otherwise neglected Scottish fashion scene.

With fashion films on show at the Edinburgh Filmhouse, a fabulous Fashion Marketplace and catwalk shows from some of the city’s best boutiques, the festival will be a multi-media experience with something for everyone, from the dedicated follower of fashion to the aspiring, local design students. With such beautiful clothes on show in such a beautiful city, fashion fans will struggle to find a more appealing offer this April. Tickets are on sale now and are available by calling 0131 228 1155.

Fiona Simpson,  1st March 2006.