Nicholas Daley Wrap Kilt – Navy

This is the kilt with a check on it, and everything about it turns on whose check it is. Scottish setts were formalised in the nineteenth century and attached to families and regiments, which converted a weaving technique into a system of belonging and, for anyone outside it, a system of exclusion. A kilt in a clan tartan is a statement about ancestry whether the wearer intends one or not.

Daley draws his own. The turmeric and navy check on this kilt is his design, registered to no family and carrying no inherited permission, which means it can be worn by anyone without borrowing anyone’s history. That is a more radical thing to do with a kilt than making one in linen or leaving the pattern off altogether.

The cloth is mohair, from the angora goat rather than the sheep, which brings lustre where wool is matte and a dry, resilient handle that keeps a pleat sharp. On a kilt the lustre matters more than on almost any other garment, because a pleated cloth is constantly presenting new surfaces to the light as it moves, and a mohair check moves in a way a matte one cannot. Turmeric, a yellow with earth in it, against navy is the warmest thing Daley draws.

Why we selected it

We took this because it is the piece where the argument and the object are the same thing: a kilt in a check that belongs to nobody, which is either a small technical fact about a fabric or the entire point of the house, depending on how long you look at it. We also took the same check in a trouser and a jacket, which tells you what we thought of the cloth.

Nicholas Daley designs his own setts rather than reproducing existing ones, and putting one on a kilt is the most complete statement of what that decision is for.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent mohair. Made in England. Wrap construction. Colour: turmeric and navy check.

Fit notes

A wrap garment, so the fit is governed by how it is wrapped and fastened rather than by a fixed waist. Mohair has natural resilience and will hold a pleat considerably better than cotton, and it recovers its shape after sitting. It is the warmest of the three kilts and the one for cold weather.

Styling

With the Waffle Rollneck in chocolate, where the brown sits between the turmeric and the navy, and a boot. Everything else plain. The Stone Jacket and the Pleated Trouser carry a turmeric and navy check too, and any two of the three together is a considerable commitment.

Care

Brush it rather than washing it, hang it so the pleats stay where they belong, and air it between wearings. Mohair wants a good cleaner occasionally rather than a scheduled one, and a careless press will put a permanent shine on the surface, so press on the reverse through a cloth if at all. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Stone Jacket and the Pleated Trouser in turmeric and navy carry a turmeric and navy check of their own. The Wrap Kilt in black cotton is the cotton wrap, the Wrap Kilt in green linen the linen one, and the Waffle Roll Neck in chocolate the knit above. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.