Edinburgh:
Old City,
New Style

Stone roads, Old Town, the castle, a historic university. Edinburgh’s classic scenery surrounds an assortment of independent shops, as well as Scotland’s first UNIQLO. Among the inspirations for this season’s collection are the cityscape of Edinburgh and the way its people style LifeWear in the autumn.

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Katie Lambert

Owner, The Coffee Cabinet

These days, Stockbridge is one of the hottest areas in Edinburgh. The tranquil cobble streets of time-tested buildings are lined with a variety of local shops. Passing the storefront of the storied cheese shop I.J. Mellis, Katie is the young owner of The Coffee Cabinet, which opened this past April on the east side of town. Her double-face shirt jacket glows in the morning sun, a fine match for the gray beige of the city streets.
These days, Stockbridge is one of the hottest areas in Edinburgh. The tranquil cobble streets of time-tested buildings are lined with a variety of local shops. Passing the storefront of the storied cheese shop I.J. Mellis, Katie is the young owner of The Coffee Cabinet, which opened this past April on the east side of town. Her double-face shirt jacket glows in the morning sun, a fine match for the gray beige of the city streets.
The Coffee Cabinet49 Broughton St, Edinburgh

Finnan McLean

Founder, Spaceboy Coffee

Encompassing the majestic views of Arthur’s Seat, Holyrood Park is a greenspace just east of the city center. On the edge of the park, a former distillery has become home to a group of thriving businesses. Among them is a boutique coffee roastery run by Finnan, who says that he wears UNIQLO sweats while he works. “Spaceboy Coffee started as a tiny operation built from things I had around, like bicycle chains,” he explains, displaying the sort of ingenuity that characterizes Edinburgh today.

Darren Wilkie

Founder, flam Homewares

Darren is the founder of flam, a homewares brand that creates unique items from old unwanted drum kits. He is also the founder of Nook & Cranny Studios, providing affordable art studio spaces for emerging artists. Donning a classic jacket with a corduroy collar, he walks across a bridge in Dean Village in the west of Stockbridge, a picturesque area of homes with over 800 years of history.
Darren is the founder of flam, a homewares brand that creates unique items from old unwanted drum kits. He is also the founder of Nook & Cranny Studios, providing affordable art studio spaces for emerging artists. Donning a classic jacket with a corduroy collar, he walks across a bridge in Dean Village in the west of Stockbridge, a picturesque area of homes with over 800 years of history.

Hugo Macdonald & James Stevens

Co-founders, Bard

“Our aim is to be storytellers of Scottish craft,” says Hugo in a becoming brown shirt jacket. Two years ago, he and his partner James, an architect, shown here in a Milano cardigan, opened the gallery Bard in the port area of Leith, located in the north of Edinburgh. The gallery’s interiors, designed by James, showcase artwork discovered by the couple in their travels around Scotland.
Bard1 Customs Wharf Leith, Edinburgh

Rita Garcia

Student

Founded in 1583, the University of Edinburgh is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the UK and home to outstanding students from all over the world. Rita, hailing from Madrid, is a fourth-year psychology student who is also president of the basketball club. Historic university buildings, like this classic structure of the medical school, are interspersed throughout the city. “My mom loves these too,” says Rita of the Ultra Light Down, which comes in handy even in the Edinburgh summers, when the temperature can change dramatically throughout the day.

Grace Dempsey

Musician, Model, Youth Worker

While playing gigs several times a week for local band Grace and the Flat Boys, Grace, a model, also devotes part of her varied schedule to supporting children’s growth as a youth worker. “They’re so stretchy!” Grace exclaimed, noting the flexibility of the new skinny jeans as we walked along the riverside of Water on Leith, just up the path from Bard (above).
Golden Hare Books, a Stockbridge bookstore, curated the selection for the books corner at the new UNIQLO Princes Street store, which opened this year.
Golden Hare Books68 St Stephen St, Edinburgh

Sarah Walker

Florist, Co-founder of Ochre

The botanical studio Ochre was founded in 2020 by six like-minded local florists. Sarah, one of the founding members, gave us a tour of a cooperatively managed garden in the northwest of the city. Flowers grown here are used in everything from bouquets for weddings to floral displays for local storefronts. This chic short blouson pairs with these new wide trousers, in resplendent white, for a modern workwear style.

Cameron Angus

Graphic Designer, Assai Records Staff

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Cameron studied design at Edinburgh Napier University before going freelance as a graphic designer. He’s pictured in a windproof parka at the doors of his other workplace, Assai Records, located just south of Edinburgh Castle, the city’s symbol. “This is a city rich in culture,” Cameron says, a truth testified perhaps most strongly in the impressive array of independent shops opening around town to great success.
Assai Records1 Grindlay St, Edinburgh

Life in Edinburgh

Text by Hugo Macdonald

There is a popular saying in destinations with inclement climates: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only wrong clothing.” Edinburgh is one such place. And we — its stoic, romantic inhabitants — are obsessed with the plot twists and turns, the rolls and the punches, that its weather delivers. Four seasons in one day, visitors gamely ask? A different season every hour we reply, and an extra layer of clothing for any eventuality.

Living in Edinburgh you quickly learn to navigate the elements as the fourth dimension of city life, and we have abundant wardrobes as a result, so the arrival of UNIQLO in Edinburgh has been greeted with wild excitement and relief. A standard summer’s day might start shrouded in fog — or “The Haar” as we call it — rolling into the city from the Firth of Forth. It’s not rare to see commuters huddled in their winter coats in August. The humor of Edinburgh’s weather gods means The Haar blows away as everyone arrives at work. When the chilly cloud evaporates, temperatures can rise by a full ten degrees in as many minutes. Dunediners respond to such theatrical situations by layering our clothes heavily and shedding them frequently. We leave our clothes all over the homes, offices, and public spaces where we spend time. As such, we have a promiscuous and karmic approach to our wardrobes, caught in an endless game of borrow and return. If the glove fits…

The Edinburgh light captivates and spellbinds residents and visitors alike. It is attributed to the position of the city, wedged into the Firth of Forth, together with its topographical complexity suspended over seven hills and its latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a cold light, in saturation and temperature. It pierces cumulonimbus cloudscapes, bouncing off the water and into the city with a milky aura. It lends Edinburgh a curiously cinematic quality, which encourages people to behave as if they are on set or stage, ready for their close-up. We dress to be seen and admired, photographed and filmed.

Street life is excessive in Edinburgh. We play host to two of the world’s most celebrated festivals, for the entire month of August and four months later for Hogmanay, or New Year. When the rest of the world isn’t knocking down our doors to share in our fun, we enjoy taking advantage of the streets and gardens, mountains, and beaches ourselves. We like showing off to each other, promenading, and peacocking, outside pubs, bars, and restaurants. Based on anecdotal evidence, you’re never more than a hammer throw from a hairdresser in Edinburgh. We care deeply about our appearances and we love a seasonal makeover, for better or worse.

In winter, it can feel like it’s never daylight; in summer it can feel like it never gets dark. And herein lies the magic of Edinburgh. We are a city of extremes: dark and light, ancient and progressive; charming and cheeky; riotous and gentle. For a relatively small capital city, we loom large in the global imagination because we seize life by its lapels come rain or shine, or any other weather in between.

Hugo Macdonald

Co-founder of Bard

Hugo, profiled above, has lived in Edinburgh for three years. Amidst his work as a design critic, curator, and consultant, he also manages Bard, a gallery showcasing Scottish crafts. A former design editor at Monocle, Hugo has contributed writing to magazines like Wallpaper*, Apartamento, and Kinfolk.

Illustration by Harper Ouk

  • Photography by Kohei Kawashima
  • Styling by Mitsuru Kurosawa
  • Hair & Makeup by Karen Shields
  • Coordination by Tatsuo Hino, Keita Hiraoka
  • Film by Amin Shaikh
  • Text by UNIQLO
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Release dates may vary, depending on the product. All listed prices are current as of August 23rd. Pricing is subject to change.

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