Scotland Fashion Now 2026: V&A Dundee hosts fashion showcase for Scotland’s next generation of designers
- Andrew Batchelor
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
V&A Dundee has been transformed into a fashion runway as some of Scotland’s most exciting emerging designers take centre stage in the city.
The museum hosted the inaugural Scotland Fashion Now: Graduate Showcase, bringing together graduates from some of the country’s leading art and design schools for a major celebration of Scottish fashion.
Opened by Màiri McAllan MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic, the show saw an impressive 83 different looks from 26 graduate designers presented inside V&A Dundee.
Collections were selected from Edinburgh College of Art, Glasgow School of Art, Gray’s School of Art and The Design School at Heriot-Watt University, with models from Model Team taking to the runway.
It marks the beginning of a new annual programme at the Dundee museum, with Scotland Fashion Now aiming to celebrate the country’s contribution to the global fashion industry while creating a platform for the next generation of talent.
And Dundee has its own place within the programme too.
A special display of knitwear created by graduates from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design is being shown at V&A Dundee throughout the weekend, celebrating the city’s long history of textile production alongside new and innovative approaches to knitwear.
The wider Scotland Fashion Now programme has been inspired by the museum’s current Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show exhibition and looks beyond clothing design to the many different careers involved in fashion.
Across the weekend, workshops, talks and events are exploring everything from modelling and hairstyling to communications and fashion production.
Those taking part include Scottish designers Nicholas Daley and Christopher Jeffrey alongside representatives from the British Fashion Council, ELLE, L’Oréal Professionnel, Model Team, SALAD Communications, LS Productions and diversity campaign group I Am More Than.
Graduate designer Abbie Smith from Glasgow School of Art said Scotland was already known internationally for traditional crafts including Harris Tweed and tartan, but argued the country’s contemporary fashion industry has much more to offer.
She said more graduates were choosing to remain in Scotland rather than feeling they had to move to London to build successful careers, making platforms showcasing Scottish talent increasingly important.
Museum ‘creating opportunities for young people’
V&A Dundee director Leonie Bell said bringing Scotland’s art and design schools together in Dundee was an opportunity to celebrate emerging creative talent while helping graduates establish careers closer to home.
She said the museum was committed to creating opportunities for young people and helping retain creative talent both in Dundee and across Scotland.
It’s another fantastic use of V&A Dundee as more than simply an exhibition space - turning one of the City of Discovery’s most recognisable buildings into a stage for the future of Scottish fashion.
Scotland Fashion Now runs at V&A Dundee from 3–6 September 2026.
