A brand new fashion festival is coming to V&A Dundee this September
- Andrew Batchelor
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
V&A Dundee is set to become the centre of Scotland’s fashion industry this September as it launches Scotland Fashion Now, a new four-day celebration of the country’s world-renowned design talent.
Running from 3 to 6 September, the inaugural programme will transform the museum into a hub for fashion, bringing together emerging designers, established industry professionals and the public for a series of catwalk shows, talks, workshops and networking opportunities.
The event will open on Thursday 3 September with Scotland Fashion Now: Graduate Showcase ’26, giving audiences the chance to see the next generation of Scottish fashion talent.
The hour-long catwalk show will feature 83 looks created by 26 designers from four of Scotland’s leading fashion schools – Edinburgh College of Art, Glasgow School of Art, Gray’s School of Art and The Design School at Heriot-Watt University.
The collections explore themes including heritage, conflict, memory, sustainability and Scotland’s natural landscapes, with models provided by Model Team. The showcase will conclude with a networking reception supported by Mulberry.
On Friday 4 September, V&A Dundee will host a Designer Panel in collaboration with the British Fashion Council (BFC). The discussion will be the first event in the BFC’s newly launched National Designer Panel Series, developed alongside ELLE UK as part of its Fashion Britain programme, which aims to encourage creativity and growth across the UK’s fashion sector.
Inspired by the museum’s current exhibition, Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show, the wider Scotland Fashion Now programme will also highlight the many careers available within the fashion industry.
Visitors will be able to take part in a hair styling masterclass led by an award-winning L’Oréal Professionnel stylist, a fashion communications workshop hosted by SALAD Communications, and a careers talk with LS Productions, the UK’s largest production service company.
Other highlights include an open modelling casting call hosted by Model Team, which is searching for new talent from north-east Scotland, alongside a panel discussion on runway representation organised by diversity campaign group I Am More Than.
Dundee’s own fashion heritage will also be celebrated through a display of knitwear created by graduates from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, showcasing the city’s long-standing reputation for textile innovation.
Mal James, Personal Chair of Fashion Design at Edinburgh College of Art, welcomed the showcase.
He said: “Scotland Fashion Now: Graduate Showcase ‘26 is an incredible opportunity for our selected graduates, celebrating the outstanding talent that continues to emerge from Scotland’s fashion colleges and universities each year.
“By further connecting our graduates to a wide industry network, the V&A Dundee Graduate Showcase is crucial in both celebrating their achievements and reinforcing Scotland’s significant presence in the fashion world.”
Troy Nelson, Creative Programmer at V&A Dundee, said Scotland had a unique influence on global fashion.
He said: “As Scotland’s design museum, we have the opportunity to bring both public and industry together to celebrate and platform the talent being developed and nurtured in Scotland.
“Collectively we want to promote the breadth of skills that underpin the fashion industry, and the importance and impact of Scotland’s art schools in developing the next generation of talent.”
Scotland Fashion Now joins a growing calendar of events celebrating Scottish fashion and textiles, including the return of Scotland Re:Design Scottish Fashion Festival later this year. V&A Dundee is also partnering with The Fife Arms Festival of Fashion, which takes place in Braemar in November.
Tickets for Scotland Fashion Now, which runs from 3–6 September, are available through the V&A Dundee website.
