“Serena Williams stole my pen”

Zak Scott, nine, and his special sweatband

By Cara Sulieman

A SCOTS schoolboy who went to Wimbledon to watch his heroes play was left gobsmacked when tennis champion Serena Williams stole his pen.

Zak Scott, nine, was first in line to get his tennis ball signed by the tennis star, but was shocked when she continued down the queue with his marker.

So he patiently followed her and waited to get his pen back.

When the Wimbledon champion realised what she had done, she embarrassingly asked if she could swap it for a signed wristband.

Models strut their stuff at launch of Edinburgh College of Art fashion show

By Oliver Farrimond

EDINBURGH fashion students showcased their years work yesterday in a glamorous fashion show at the Edinburgh College of Art.

Hundreds gathered to watch the event, which featured professional models strutting their stuff in a variety of luxurious fabrics and elaborate costumes.

The show represents the culmination of a year’s hard work for many students, and for some it is the final show of their degree.

Many will hope to go on to a successful career in one of the fashion industry’s “big four” cities of Milan, London, Paris and New York City.

The show runs from Wednesday 6th May until the 9th, and is widely regarded as a key date in the Capital’s cultural calendar.

Among the collections was an exclusive range of Scottish fabrics from the Borders-based Lochcarron of Scotland.

Borders firm says ‘suit you, sir!’ – At a price

By Alexander Lawrie

A SCOTS-BASED fabric company is producing the world’s most expensive cloth.

Holland and Sherry have been based in Peebles for over 100 years and the company is famous for clothing Hollywood A-listers such as Nicole Kidman, George Clooney and Tom Cruise.

It has taken the prestigious company five years to gather enough of the special yarn, and another year and a half for them to develop the unique cloth.

And even though it will cost over £3000 a yard for the rare fabric, the firm are bracing themselves for orders to come flooding in.

One of the first to place an order for a £35,000 suit is the mega-rich King of Morocco.

The material comes from the wool of the Vicuna llama which inhabits the high alpine reaches of the Andes.

A rare and extremely shy animal, the llama only produces tiny amounts of very fine wool and can only be shorn every three years.

Holland and Sherry have spun their special Vicuna worsted from llamas in Peru and Bolivia, before having it shipped back to Britain where it is spun at the company’s factory in Yorkshire.

The Scots firm has revealed they have enough material to make just 18 of the ultra-expensive suits, and wealthy customers will only have a choice of three colours to choose from – black, midnight and natural.

Ross Greenshields, Holland and Sherry’s sales marketing manager, said: “There are other Vicuna fabrics on the market, but we have woven the world’s first 100 per cent worsted spun Vicuna fabric – it is unique, it is original, it is exclusive and it is the most expensive cloth in the world.

“We went to the next level. If you picture feeling cashmere – and cashmere feels fantastic – this feels finer.

“Even if you’re not in the business, you could tell the difference – it really is a stand out fabric.”

The company, which was founded in 1836, has offices in New York, Paris, Milan, Sydney, Shanghai and Savile Row, London.

Recently the Borders company has clothed both Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in the hit movie Australia, as well as having their cloth used in Harry Potter, Moulin Rouge, Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13 and prison film The Green Mile.

This year Hollywood heart-throb Johnny Depp will wear Holland and Sherry in Public Enemies – a crime drama set during the Great Depression.

British movie stars Kiera Knightely and Sienna Miller have been seen around town wearing Holland and Sherry attire, while top designers Versace and Thom Browne are also regular customers of the Borders-based firm.