This collection centers Black Watch tartan, a pattern commonly seen as heritage but historically tied to empire. Originally used by the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment to suppress Scotland, it was later exported through the British Empire and worn by soldiers in West Africa to enforce control, taxation, and land seizure.

For some, this fabric represents tradition. For others, it represents occupation.

As a West African designer, I am reclaiming this material and recontextualizing it. Not to celebrate its history, but to confront it. These pieces are built as tools of education, meant to question power, authorship, and the symbols we move through every day without examining.

This collection is not about nostalgia.

It is about reversal, awareness, and memory.