Editorial - A day up North

We travelled up North to Aberdeen to visit our good friend Malcolm, who was kind enough to take us around the city and chat with us for the day. Malcolm came here to visit his grandparents back in 1985 after leaving school and never went home. He picked up a job for British Rail which he thought would do him for six months, which then led to him running the day to day of Aberdeen train station to this day.

We started off at The Grill on Union Street, a well known Aberdeen establishment known for it's no nonsense approach, questionable offering of pies and vast collection of whiskey. The Grill was a place myself and Malcolm would drink fairly regularly during my days up North, so it was a perfect place to start to the day.

 

 

Malcolm grew up outside of Glasgow in Cumbernauld Village, which wasn't known to be at the forefront of fashion in any way, but his mother was a prolific clothes and shoes shopper and this rubbed off on him and his sister. He remembers being taken for his hair cuts at Irvine Rusks which was the place to go, and then local establishments such as Gilmores and Gerards for his clothing.

His obsession with clothing grew even more over the years, frequently visiting the well known Glasgow establishment, The Warehouse. He talked of going up to the café on the top floor when he was fourteen, that's where he first came across Comme Des Garcons and Katherine Hamnett. Another favourite was Ichi Ni San on Bell Street, where he'd pick up the odd item now and then.

More of the above continued and after meeting his wife in the early 1990s they had their first trip to New York in 1994. They were hooked and went back continually, sometimes three times a year. They would stay in Greenwich Village, visiting the original Comme store, Barneys, Charavari and IF in Soho. These were "good old times" he says, memories of getting dressed up and hitting the bars and clubs. He admits to accumulating an extensive collection of shoes and clothing during this period, and we can confirm he has held onto nearly every pair.

 

 

A well earned break from clothing and going out kicked in when family life took over and the first of his three daughters came along in 2000. His interest at that time turned to classic cars, another fairly expensive hobby. He had various Land Rovers over the years and still has a Bedford Domobile from 1964. His current daily driver is a 1960 Land Rover Series 2 Station Wagon which he's had for 18 years, which you can see pictured very proudly below.

Malcolm and his family started going back to New York in 2010, which was a bit different this time around, not going out so much but still visiting stores and buying mostly Comme Homme Deux and Junya Watanabe. Now he mainly focuses on Paul Harnden Shoemakers which he came across a number of years ago and has built up a strong collection of their garments. 

 

 

Malcolm wears a selection of garments from Barena's Autumn/Winter collection.

 

Photography by Richard Gaston.