Tatiana Delany, Yarwood Grant Winner 2013

In 2013, Tatiana Delany, an MA History & Culture of Fashion student at the London College of Fashion was awarded the Yarwood Research Grant for her research on ‘Nostalgia and Modernity: An Investigation of Harris Tweed’.

Tatiana shared this report: 

The support from the Costume Society’s Yarwood Award allowed me to carry out my primary research for my dissertation and investigate methods of production, history, heritage and the material culture of Harris Tweed in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.

My research trip in August took me up the length of the Outer Hebrides. I interviewed nine Harris Tweed weavers and visited exhibitions, such as the newly opened Drinishader Harris Tweed exhibition on Harris, the Uist Wool Spinning Mill and exhibition, the Museum Nan Eilean, the Kildonan Museum, and the Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum in Lochmaddy. 

My investigation of Harris Tweed looks at what the material culture of this cloth can tell us about society’s preoccupation with and interest in nostalgia in a fashion industry where modernity and the continuous quest for novelty and the latest trend is of utmost priority. I also investigate the intriguing interplay between past, present and future embodied in the material presence of Harris Tweed. The semi-structured, informal interviews I was able to carry out with a range of weavers offered a fascinating insight into the relationship between heritage, the importance of tradition and ancestry, individual and collective memory, place and material culture. Moreover, the relationship between methods of production and sensory engagement with the cloth and heritage opened up a whole realm of thoughtprovoking issues surrounding the material embodiment and symbolic space within textiles and fashion textiles which I will explore in my dissertation.

The relationship of the material object to human culture and society is integral to human interaction, and the production of Harris Tweed is a perfect case study and microcosm of this relationship. The fact that Harris Tweed has been protected by law for over one hundred years and produced by generations of families on the Outer Hebrides who have all endeavoured to protect the cloth and ensure its commercial longevity means that it holds a unique place within the people and society of these islands. The promotion and representation of Harris Tweed through exhibitions, literature, advertising and marketing reflects this preoccupation with heritage and place, and these materials offer an exploration, as yet untapped, of the importance of this textile in today’s fast fashion world and the importance of quality, care and storytelling in the production of fashion textiles. 

I really enjoyed the opportunity to immerse myself in the research process and uncover the myriad of different avenues through which this subject could be explored. Without this funding I would not have been able to carry out the necessary research needed to investigate this area of the fashion and textile industry, and I am hugely grateful for the Costume Society’s support.  There is much potential for further study and I hope to further expand this investigation upon completion of my dissertation.