The myth narrates that Women’s Day originated as a commemoration of a group of American women who were killed in a fire in the factory where they worked. Whether or not that may be true, the earliest reported Women’s Day celebration took place in New York City in February 1909 following the suggestion of socialist activist, Theresa Malkiel. Inspired by Theresa’s ideas, countries like Denmark, Germany and the U.K. started to hold their very own Women’s Day Celebrations. With no initial set date, the United Nations General Assembly decided to proclaim March the 8th as the official Women’s Day. Since then, many countries have followed the same path and nowadays, March the 8th is well-known to focus on celebrating Women and their rights as well as raising awareness around issues such as gender equality and violence.
Here at Kinloch Anderson, women are celebrated every day. They are a vital part of our team, they represent a large percentage of our customer base and have inspired and contributed to the development of the business itself. Fifth Generation Deirdre Kinloch Anderson OBE has been strategic in tailoring the history of the six-generation owned company, Deirdre herself has mentioned in her book “Tailored for Scotland”, that “It is hard to establish yourself in your own right and not just as a privileged family member” but she has worked hard in all the company’s departments since she joined the business and ultimately won an OBE in 2010 for her contribution to the textile industry.
The first time Kinloch Anderson focused on women’s fashion and started producing ladieswear was in 1940 when William Andersons & Sons published the first advertisement in The Scotsman Newspaper stating that they would be producing uniforms for women going to fight in the Second World War. The company demonstrated that it was adapting to a changing market and knew that women were an integral part of this change. Afterall, the gentlemen were being outfitted for military uniforms by William Anderson & Sons and it seemed only natural to provide the same service for serving women. Since then, women have been a consistent audience of the brand especially during the 70s and the 80s when Kinloch Anderson manufactured lady’s kilted tartan skirts. It was thanks to those skirts that the business started to export to countries like Italy, France and Austria, gaining the Queen’s Award for Export in 1979. To this day, the ladieswear production continues to grow and it includes skirts, trousers, sashes, scarves and bags.
Nowadays, Kinloch Anderson continues standing by women through fashion, social support and fundraising activities as the company is eager to encourage women and their achievements. For instance, one of the initiatives saw the company contributing to an auction organised for the Elsie Inglis campaign to build a statue of Elsie in Edinburgh. Inglis is famous for having been a pioneer of the medicine field, especially when she moved to France to give support to soldiers suffering from the wounds of the First World War. Alongside an auction prize, Gordon tartan ribbon badges were supplied for the supporters of the project as Inglis has often been pictured in her brimmed hat trimmed with Gordon tartan.
With a commitment to continue supporting women through this generation and the ones yet to come, Kinloch Anderson wishes you all a Happy Women’s Day.