The MacAndreas Tartan brings together two signatures of each design house – a Cole & Son Jaspe strié print and an iconic Vivienne Westwood tartan – to create a subtly refined design with global recognition. The MacAndreas Tartan was originally designed by Vivienne, working with weavers Lochcarron of Scotland, in an homage to her husband and design partner, Andreas Kronthaler. First seen in the seminal Autumn-Winter 1993/94 Gold Label Anglomania collection – a reference to the French passion for all things English. Vivienne’s fascination with English and Scottish traditions served as a source of inspiration and a subject for parody. The fabric was added to the official Scottish Register of Tartans that same year.
Designers at Cole & Son transformed the tartan for an interior by combining it with Cole & Son’s archival strié technique invented by the house’s founder, John Perry. This technique, which spawned the design Jaspe, was inspired by fine silk Perry had seen being dyed in France in the 1800s. He adapted this style for wallpaper using various horse-hair brushes, using a machine to drag the brush along the paper’s surface creating fine lines in the dye. Due to its elegant simplicity, Jaspe remains a beloved addition to the Cole & Son portfolio today.
Like a tartan being woven on a loom, each thread of MacAndreas Tartan was meticulously hand-painted using a strié brush to imitate the fabric, creating a soft texture replicating the warp and weft of silk. Colourings are inspired by the various tartans of the Vivienne Westwood house, ranging from the punk-inspired Cyan & Magenta and Violet & Fluro Green to deep tones of Petrol & Rouge, and the earthy Pine & Teal and Pistachio & Stone.
