Tessa Hartmann is the founder of the Scottish Fashion Awards, for which we are media partner. She introduces the final shortlist in the Fashion Icon category ahead of the ceremony on Monday, June 11.
The only category in the Scottish Fashion Awards that is judged by a public vote is the ‘Scottish Fashion Icon’ category. It’s not enough to have the uber stylish Alexa Chung hosting the event, we feel it’s appropriate each year to crown one of our own extremely stylish Scottish personalities.
It’s always the source of much controversy, which is wonderful really, as it prompts great online debate!
This is how it works. We have a top twelve shortlist, which includes some of Scotland’s most famous faces, and the public help us to whittle that down to five – then they vote for their favourite.
On this year’s final shortlist are actress Louise Linton, Doctor Who star Karen Gillan, Model Tali Lennox, musician Barrie James O’Neil, and actor Iain De Caestecker.
Sometimes the winner simply boils down to who has the biggest fan base. This year, that could be a question of how many fans want to be Barrie James O’Neill, or it could be down to the votes of the faithful fashion pack who covet every look from Karen Gillan, the would-be models who envisage themselves as the new Tali Lennox, or budding thespians emulating Louise Linton and Iain De Caestecker and dreaming of living in LA!
We upload the sensational list online and log the public votes through Capital FM and our official website www.scottishfashionawards.com/fashionicon.
The subsequent debate has been the source of much hilarity at the Scottish Fashion Awards HQ. From devoted fans trying to vote countless times to true fashionistas commentating on why particular attire simply isn’t on trend, we’ve enjoyed the discussion. There can be anger and bitterness over why some people are on the list – perhaps from those who haven’t recovered from their lack of inclusion.
For me, the conversation is where it really gets interesting, because fashion is really about social inclusion or social expulsion, isn’t it?
Hark back to school when by your mere appearance placed you either in the cool crowd, or the not-so-cool crowd. Or go way back the last century when fashion was so entwined with cultural change that it was an immediate status and classification system. People knew immediately where they fitted in society simply by their dress.
Thankfully through mass production technology and the ages of the jean revolution, the mini and the sexual morality movement, we’ve come on leaps and bounds. The youth culture in this ever smaller global community has given us marvelous pleasures like unisex wardrobes, punk and grunge.
Then there’s the other end of the spectrum and the marvel that is haute couture. Bespoke, for the privileged few, but in essence a highly enviable trade, involving top craftsman from iconic houses.
One thing we can be assured of is that fashion prompts debate in significant volumes – thousands in fact, judging by our voting pattern. Fashion is a form of consumption, a commercial phenomenon and an identity maker. If that identity is a second-hand woolly jumper then it says as much about you as it does about someone wearing haute couture - it's pure social reality.
Make no mistake, there’s as much thought gone into said ‘woolly jumper’ as there is into a designer look. Leaving one’s hair unwashed for days, then going out in public is a conscious social act that actually requires more confidence than a quick wash and blow dry! If you ask me, there is ego splashed all over an unkempt look. It's irrational, fickle and volatile and that's why we love it.
So what is a ‘Fashion Icon’? Well it isn't just about style, it's about individuality, eccentricities and personality. So peruse this year’s nominees and take your pick!
What is quickly identifiable is that each look enables us to understand a lot about that person. Sociologists borrowed the word ‘rôle’ from theatre because like actors, individuals play many parts.
The Scottish Fashion Awards next Monday evening (June 11th) will be the stage and only one of our nominees will steal the crown!
The final five
Karen Gillan
Louise Linton (Getty)
Iain de Caesticker
Barrie James O'Neill
Tali Lennox
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