The Story of Fortnum's Tartan
The Story of Fortnum's Tartan
There's more than meets the eye when it comes to designing a tartan, which is why we enlisted the expertise of brilliant tartan specialist Araminta Campbell – a spinner of yarns in both the literal and metaphorical sense – who wove our story into all the colours and threads used. Working closely with Fortnum’s, it took over a year just to get the elements, including weight, dyes and weave, before turning our attention to the story.
A Colourful Past
The Fortnum's tartan starts at the very beginning, with our founders William Fortnum & Hugh Mason represented in the double Eau de Nil checks at the centre of the design. Before we invented the Scotch Egg, our corner shop sold the candle wax from the Royal household, which flickers into life through the bright flame yellow. For anyone who has tasted all our delectable jars of honey, you'll know how our bee hives and beeswax are another passion of ours. Our apiaries are reflected in the pale yellow tramlines placed across the soft green ground, with six threads for the six hives in London and four threads for the four hives on the Piccadilly flagship store roof.
Our four wonderful emporiums are represented in the horizontal and vertical checks. The deep red echoes the colour of the sumptuous carpets running throughout our interiors as well as all the delicacies waiting to be discovered in the food hall such as lobster - which you may have spotted in our brand Marque. The outer red check is made up of 12 threads, standing for the service Fortnum & Mason has provided to 12 Royal Monarchs.
A Tartan For Every Adventure
Sourcing from and supplying to Scotland is a long-held and highly treasured tradition for Fortnum’s and we are extremely proud of our exclusively designed tartan. Of course, creating a tartan is not something to be taken lightly and we took the responsibility seriously – although it was a seriously joyful process too.
Fortnum’s Picnic Blanket
In our picnic rug, the symbol of the clan meets the symbol of the picnic. The picnic rug has been crafted from 100% brushed lambswool, and while the inspiration very much comes straight out of London, the Fortnum’s tartan is woven in a family-run artisan mill and is testament to Scotland's famous textile traditions.
Our Cashmere Collection
Exclusively crafted for Fortnum’s, our signature House Tartan and navy and neutral colourways have been designed by Araminta Campbell and woven from the finest Scottish spun cashmere. Each piece is beautiful finished with natural teasels to create a luxurious softness. These cashmere pieces are ideal for those cold winter months, exquisitely soft with a dense weave that provides excellent thermal benefits to keep you both stylish and warm.
Our Lambswool Collection
Woven in the finest lambswool in a traditional family run mill in Scotland, it is brushed for that extra luxurious soft raised finish, culminating in a beautifully soft, warm, hardwearing and of course, stylish item.
Araminta Campbell
Araminta grew up surrounded by tweed and tartan, but it wasn’t until the exploration of natural dyes and materials during her degree that her passion really began.
“this is still the foundation for everything my brand stands for. At first, I was working as an artist, I have no formal training in weave but am self-taught and over the first few years honed my skills both in weave design and hand-weaving.”
Araminta Campbell’s mission is to create articles of beauty that stand the test of time as well as helping to sustain the traditional skills, rural suppliers, and talented craftspeople of the British Isles.
