Maryna Zhuravlova has an idea for a tartan of tartans, if you will.
The accomplished textile designer and tailor had her own studio in Kharkiv for 20 years.
Then Russia invaded Ukraine, upending the lives of millions and changing her life forever.
Ms Zhuravlova relocated to the UK, first to Devon, and eventually to Edinburgh, where she found a new passion, the traditional Scottish art of kiltmaking.
Her love affair with the craft began when she got a job in retail at Gordon Nicolson Kiltmakers.
Soon after she began working at the family-run firm in the Canongate, she enrolled at the Edinburgh Kiltmakers Academy [EKA], run by the eponymous Gordon Nicolson.
“Before the war in Ukraine, I started a textile recycling project.
“I saw so many offcuts that could be made into things but were just being wasted. The whole idea was to educate people about sustainability.”
“In the shop, there is a map of the different clans on the ceiling,” she says.
“All the clans have different tartans. It's about separation. But I want to make something from the offcuts of all the different tartans to symbolise the unity of all these separate clans.”
Mr Nicolson, who opened EKA a decade ago and has tutored more than 130 students since 2016, tells me about the importance of protecting the craft, which has been classed as "endangered" by Heritage Crafts.
“The academy lets people know that they can have a career as a kiltmaker,” he says. “We can teach them many things, but I can't teach them passion.”
“That's something they've got, and they want to make the best kilt they can ever make every single time. And that's something that makes me incredibly proud.”
He explains how the business got started, back in 2009.
“The Royal Mile at that particular time was full of imported stuff.
“It still is, but not to the same extent as it was then. There was lots of cheap Scottish stuff, and in my eyes it was crying out for proper, Scottish-made traditional Highland dress. So, we set the shop up to do that.”
He continues: “The whole idea of the academy was to standardise kiltmaking of the highest [quality].
“The main reason people came to us was because of what we're trying to do and what we're trying to achieve.
“A lot of them have stayed in the industry and are making kilts. Some are making kilts for our competitors. The standard that we set is like a benchmark.”
Even for Ms Zhuravlova, who was an accomplished maker before she moved to Scotland, kiltmaking was a different beast altogether, albeit an attractive one.
“I think the kilt is a very [sexy] part of a wardrobe. It looks so cool,” she explains, a smile on her face.
“When I was living in Devon and came to visit my daughter in Glasgow, she’d always say: ‘Mama, stop staring at men like that.’”
Ms Zhuravlova laughs.
“I think they looked very cool and attractive,” she says.
“For me as a tailor, kilts contain an element of transformation because the way we pleat, you know, it depends on the set or stripe. It can change colour and design.
“So there's a lot of potential in that.”
I ask Ms Zhuravlova about what she has learned during her time at the academy, and in Scotland. “I contemplate on that quite often,” she says. “It’s a magical experience for me, you know, like it's a recognition of place.
“When I first stepped into Gordon's shop, I recognised the smell of real wool, of leather skin. It’s natural, you know, it's not fake, it's so real.
“I ask myself what if I stay here forever? And what if I don't need to work to survive? What would I do then?
“I have an answer inside of me. I would do the same because I love that. I really love that.
“I have a really strong resonance with what's going on, dyeing, spinning, weaving, making things. I find being here therapeutic.
“It helps keep my inner light on.”
Read more:
- Heritage on the brink: the race to save Scotland's kilt making tradition
- Family to sell renowned Scottish kilt shop after 36 years
- Tartan Army sparks Scottish kiltmaker’s US tour to Boston, New York and Richmond
It is clear that Mr Nicolson agrees with his pupil's assessment of kiltmaking.
“What was particularly pleasing for us [this summer] was seeing the Tartan Army in Boston in their tartan and kilts and the reaction that they had,” he remarks.
“They've been one of the best ambassadors for Scotland.”
“We have people from all different parts of the world that come in to get kilts made because they want to be able to wear something that has meaning to them,” Mr Nicolson says.
“That sense of Scottish pride travels all throughout the world.”
Even, it seems, all the way to Ukraine, and back again.
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