CONTEMPORARY Scottish fashion label Rachel McMillan offers ethical, organic and fair-trade clothing across the globe.
McMillan graduated from Heriot Watt School of Textiles and Design in 2012 with a BA Honours in Fashion Design for Industry.
Seeking to launch her own label, she began her journey at Entrepreneurial Spark, completing 18 months at the start-up accelerator, during which time she officially launched her brand. Entering the fashion world with a bang in November 2015, her first pop-up was launched in Glasgow’s House of Fraser.
Black suede sequin bomber jacket, £165
In 2016 McMillan was announced as one of Scotland’s top emerging designers and her brand was one of five selected for support by the Fashion Foundry, a mentoring and support programme partnered with Topshop and Topman.
Within the brand’s first year of trading, McMillan was nominated for Young Designer of the Year and has since been a nominee for Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year as well as being a finalist at the IPSE London Awards.
Focusing on promoting sustainability in fashion, McMillan believes in having transparency throughout the brand’s supply chain.
Monochrome organic print T-shirt, £75
Her desire to endorse ethical practices was sparked by the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh and the True Cost Of Fashion documentary that followed. Moved by the dangers of fast-fashion, she strongly believes in a more ethical and sustainable future for the fashion industry.
McMillan is dedicated to creating modern and luxurious pieces using the highest quality, softest and most comfortable fabrics. She is keen to show that being ethically responsible can go hand in hand with innovative aesthetics.
Burnt orange 3/5 sleeve rib print dress, £135
McMillan specialises in unique digitally printed textiles; all of her prints are hand-designed from her own drawings, photographs and artwork at her Glasgow studio.
The label’s latest collection, titled Pause, was officially launched in Jenners, Edinburgh, last year. Promoting her ethical stance, the collection is locally manufactured using only organic and fair-trade certified fabrics and is traceable from the cotton farm to packaging.
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