A DENIM designer whose jeans have been worn by Kevin Bridges and stars of Manchester United and Barcelona has become the latest tenant at The Whisky Bond, a hub for firms in the creative industries in the north of Glasgow.
Robert Watson, the Glaswegian tailor behind label Rabbie Denim, has moved into a 700 square foot workshop at the Speirs Lock site.
The jeans are all hand-made from English indigo raw denim, with each pair weighing 14 ounces.
Prices for the denims, which can be ordered from his website or the Rabbie Denim Facebook page, start at £180 per pair for Rabbie Denim "originals".
Mr Watson, who trained at Cardonald College, will design and manufacture all of his jeans in Glasgow, having had "sleepless nights" over the thought of producing them at greatly reduced cost in China or India. Production starts next week.
He said: "I want to make an example for all the other designers, that you can actually do it in Glasgow."
The designer is currently training 12 interns at the new premises, whom he hopes will become designers in his own right or find full-time work with him.
He was inspired to move into textiles by his mother, a seamstress. He made his first trousers at the age of seven, after complaining about the style the garments his mother made for him, and made his first pair of jeans at 21.
After finding fame on the back of the Manchester United commission, he withdrew from the spotlight aged 27. But after a couple of years he returned to the fray.
Operating from his own flat, word of mouth leading to the Barcelona deal, with the club looking for jeans for its captain and directors following a Champions League triumph.
Mr Watson said he rejected investment offers from business dragons over the last 12 years because they sought big stakes in his business, ranging from 40 per cent to 51 per cent.
He was also force to knock back an offer from a leading Glasgow department store which wanted 500 pairs as he was unable to meet its demands.
Now he is being backed by a friend who has become silent investor, who "lets me go with the flow in my own time". He insists he has no interest in being famous for what he does.
Mr Watson said: "I've never chased the money. I've always just been happy doing what I'm doing. My friends hear the stories about me and say "you could be one of the richest men in Glasgow - why don't you mass produce your jeans?" But I don't really want the money.
"Now I'm going to do it and I'm only going to be helping people with it [the money] - I've no interest in becoming big Alan Sugar or [going] full pelt until I'm 60 or 70."
Rabbie joins a collection of small firms and start-ups which operate at the £5 million Whisky Bond, where tenants also range from Scottish Opera and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to Network Five Architects, Flux Laser Studios, IC Mobile Lab and The Distillery.
Asked what attracted him to The Whisky Bond, he said the space is "ten years ahead of its time" in terms of equipment, lighting and decor.
He said: "Every floor has a different theme and that's the kind of thing I would have done if I was involved in doing the place up.
"My place is like Narnia compared to the whole building."
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