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| Breadline, December 2002 | ||||
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Malin Landqvist talks to a young Scottish designer about her clothes label With nature, artistic fabrics and the idea of comfortable elegance as the cornerstones of its creations, Roobedo has another dynamic collection of clothes to offer. I talked to the successful designer behind one of the most thrilling brands in Scotland. Ruth Morris, the designer and creator of Roobedo, is currently working hard with her new collection and is busy running her shop and studio, both located in Edinburgh. You can find her shop in the Grassmarket, which belongs to the trendy and picturesque Soho area. With its trendy, central location the crowd coming in to her shop is varied. `Anyone from students to businesswomen are coming in, which is great. The students tend to go for my denim and cord collection and the professionals normally go for the suits.' Looking at the various pictures of her previous and current collections, the style of the clothes does vary, but what strikes me as the common themes throughout are the simplicity of the clothes and the use of elegance combined with trendy cuts and colours. The clothes are very feminine but designed to be comfortable to wear. Growing up in Dundee with the countryside close to her, nature is one of her major inspirations when she is designing. She loves to get away from the hectic city life once in a while to do other things or just to relax. The beach is one of her favourite places to relax and be inspired. Recently she went to Stockholm in Sweden, to see a `Scotland Sweden' exhibition where different craft designers showed their materials. She found some fabrics she really loved and is now going to use some of them in her future collections. `The combination of tweed and brighter, lighter fabrics would be a really great mixture. The fabrics I'm going to use are mainly cotton-canvas.' Another main influence Morris has is Japanese fashion and style. One popular item from her collection is a Kimono inspired suit for £200. But what about Roobedo? I asked her how she came up with the idea and when it all started. When she graduated from the Scottish College of Textiles in Galashiels in 1993, Morris worked for a retail company in Edinburgh and also did some freelance work. She had been eager to start her own business for years, but was reluctant to leave the security of a regular income. This was the main obstacle in the way of her dream. To start from scratch does take a lot of courage and an enormous amount of hard-working spirit. She started off slowly, making clothes in her spare-time between 1996-97 and Roobedo grew from there and was officially born in January 2000. I asked her what her aims are for the future, regarding her style and the expansion of her brand. If she had the chance to expand within the UK, her first point of call would be Brighton, since she has friends in the area and likes the atmosphere. Opening a store in Japan is another big dream for her. Throughout the years, a lot of people have asked her if she has plans to design a male collection. So, she is now beginning a smaller collection for men, containing a suit, casual trousers in canvas, smarter trousers in canvas and a shirt. Her current collection for women is based on the colours she normally uses, such as navy blue, mustard, pink and olive green. Next year, the collection will contain a lot of brighter colours alongside her traditional ones. What also strikes me as being extraordinary about Roobedo is that there is a "made to measure" service provided. The clothes are made from sizes 8-20, but you can also have your clothes made to fit your body perfectly. You can also order clothes from her website as well. Her fabrics are always carefully chosen and therefore the clothes have a very genuine and artistic feel to them. The prices are affordable, so for once, buying designer clothing does not have to result in an empty bank account or with the feeling that you've been trapped and fooled by the materialistic devil inside. To see the range of her clothes, visit her website: www.roobedo.com
or go to her shop: |
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