She moved on after six months with McQueen

She moved on after six months with McQueen


She moved on after six months with McQueen and has since shown her designs in New York and Tokyo, as well as winning awards back home.
One of her jackets - made from cloth woven by her uncle Donald Smith on the Isle of Lewis - costs up to ￡3500.

Next weekend, she'll be showing her latest designs at Ciao Bella, the inaugural fashion arena at the acclaimed and sold-out Belladrum Festival.
Celebrating tweed's current in-demand status will be a key point of the fashion event.

After working with McQueen, Judy returned to Glasgow where she was shortlisted for Designer Of The Year at the 2009 Scottish Style Awards.

Her love of tweed was inspired by her uncle who is a weaver producing hand-woven cloth from his loom in Shawbost on the Isle of Lewis. He sent her a bag of remnants when she graduated and she began work on her own collection using tweed.

She said: "It's lovely to have that family connection, like it's come full circle.
"I design mostly for my own label but also do a collaboration with Harris Tweed Hebrides, a range that was sold in Japan this year. We're doing a new range for the UK market too."

In March, she won the Jolomo Arts and Crafts PSYBT Award, a ￡3000 cash prize from renowned Scottish contemporary artist John Lowrie Morrison, organised by The Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust.

It helped finance her small studio in the west end of Edinburgh and in April she was given a coveted spot to show her clothes on the catwalk at the Dressed To Kilt event in New York.
An American woman in the audience loved her collection so much, she ordered three jackets and dresses, a major financial boost for Judy whose designs cost between ￡750 and ￡3500.

What attracts such high-spending customers is not just the skill of Judy's designs but the character and heritage of the fabric she uses, as well as the longevity and style of tweed.