Dunfermline: Princess Anne visits Kalopsia Collective

Kalopsia Collective moved from Leith to a larger premises on Gardeners' Street in Dunfermline in 2021 and has catered to companies like the V&A and stars including Claudia Schiffer.

Co-owners Adam Robertson and Nina Falk were there to meet the Princess Royal, who has been the president of the UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) for more than 35 years.

Nina told the Press: "We were meant to have her last year but then Ukraine happened and we had to postpone our official opening.

"It was lovely to have her here in Dunfermline, we came from Edinburgh and it was a really nice thing to have everyone gathered here.

"Everyone in the facility – all the machinists and clients that we had invited – got to speak to her, she asked us all different questions about what we did."

She continued: "She (Princess Anne) spent a long time here and spoke for a long time to everyone, it was really nice that she had the knowledge within the industry.

"She has the background and all the information in the industry, it was nice to talk about our practices and how we got to be in Dunfermline doing this.

"We were talking not so much about Brexit but the challenges we are facing because of the industry, how it is with fabric and the import and export of items.

"It is difficult to import hardware and get it off in time to clients, both in the UK and also abroad."

Nina, who is from Sweden originally and took inspiration from Scandinavian style for her designs, says there is concern about losing the European market, with the firm currently making more profit by exporting to America.

She said: "We do manufacture for some European clients but at the moment it is more profitable for us to export to America – we are losing the whole European market, that's a challenge for us.

"I am from Sweden and we used to have a lot of collaboration with Swedish brands and companies but at the moment it's not really profitable for either them or us to do it.

"Especially Germany, that was a really good market for us.

"It's not pointless at the moment but it's a challenge and it's costing companies quite a lot of money to do that."

She added: "When I designed all the products we have in our catalogue, I was taking a lot of inspiration – I've been in the industry for over 20 years – from minimalistic, clean cuts, which are really appealing for the Scandinavian market.

"I was also looking at Scottish textiles, the heritage, and combining those two elements having manufacture in Scotland with that traditional craftsmanship and Swedish design.

"I think that's why so many people are coming for our manufacturing."

Founded in 2012, Kalopsia Collective offers a template of designs for those in the fashion industry to choose from, working in any volume from a single item to a thousand if required.

They service around 200 clients, from students in art and design to bigger names such as Kitty McCall, the V&A, the Royal Society for Arts, and Gordon Nicolson Kiltmaker.

Recently, Claudia Schiffer asked the business for 350 designer bags to be produced for giveaways at a special event.

The company is now looking to expand further and hopes that a community bond scheme, launched by Scottish Communities Finance, will help them grow their team to nearly twice the size over the next few years.

The bond has a minimum investment of £50 and aims to raise £100,000.

As reported by the Press in October, Nina hopes the scheme will also allow the business to work on one of its key aims – to be the top UK brand providing environmentally-sound textile products.

She provided an update: "We paused the bonds and just opened up two days ago, yesterday (January 18) was the official launch of the bonds.

"At the moment, that's going really well, we can start fresh in 2023 and talk about investment and what the bonds will help our clients and supporters with.

"It's not just helping with investment, it's actually providing everyone with a sustainable service but helping with a textile future for Scotland as well."