Flora McFarlane, an award-winning Fashion Design graduate from The Glasgow School of Art, unveiled her debut collection Return to the Garden at a unique catwalk show staged by The Burrell Collection on Saturday 9th of May.
As part of this landmark collaboration, The Burrell Collection’s galleries for the first time became a runway with the 28-look collection of designer pieces launched alongside the treasures within the museum which inspired them.
Flora’s collection, which draws deeply on heritage textiles and the natural world, is infused with themes that closely reflect the richness of the museum’s Chinese, French, and Medieval artworks. Her bold debut features exquisite knitwear and bespoke tailoring, showcasing her own unique design vision while honouring the craftsmanship of the museum’s many treasures from which she drew inspiration.
Return to the Garden is a truly collaborative undertaking, involving national cultural institutions, creative agencies and supported by Scottish manufacturers including MYB Textiles and The Scottish Leather Group. Flora’s close collaborators also include many GSA graduates, staff and students including award winning jewellery designer Kyle Ferguson, portrait and fashion photographer Ruby Pluhar, make-up artist MV Brown, Burrell Collection Museum Manager Juliet Fellows-Smith and Stuart Gilmour, founder and owner of design studio River Runs Deep. GSA graduates, including Danae Crawford, Xi Wang and Nicolle Santiago modelled many of the individual pieces for the collection, while GSA student volunteers supported the event on the night.
Flora McFarlane said: “I am deeply inspired by Scotland’s creativity and heritage, and my work is shaped by Scotland’s significant contribution to art and design. My grandmother’s family hail from Kirkintilloch and Galston, where they were artisans involved in the textiles industry and stonemasonry. She went on to study at The Glasgow School of Art, and both my mother and I have followed in her creative footsteps.
“My designs reimagine Scottish heritage textiles through my own creative language. I have had the privilege of working with and learning from the continued traditional skills still practised in Knitwear mills in Hawick, the last lace mill in Ayrshire, as well as a leather tannery in the West of Scotland, all of which have contributed to the development of this project.
“We are so lucky to have free museums like the Burrell Collection filled with world-class art and artefacts. Glasgow has been a constant source of inspiration since I began my studies at GSA in 2020, and I’m keen to encourage other emerging designers to stay in Scotland and draw inspiration from the treasures on our doorstep to spark their careers.”
Professor Penny Macbeth, Director and Principal of The Glasgow School of Art Said – “Flora McFarlane’s ‘Return to the Garden’ is an ambitious work that speaks to the significance of making, material knowledge, and the imaginative potential of design to reconnect us with places and histories. Presented within the Burrell Collection, itself a vital civic resource, this project resonates deeply with Glasgow’s unique cultural ecology—where artists, designers and institutions contribute meaningfully to the city’s social, cultural and economic life.
At The Glasgow School of Art, we place great value on the role of craft and textile practice, as sites of critical inquiry as much as skilled production. Flora’s work exemplifies this ethos, demonstrating a sensitivity to material, process and narrative that reflects both a rigorous education and a personal commitment to sustainable and thoughtful design.
Glasgow’s strength lies in its interconnected creative communities, and it is through projects such as this that we see the continued impact of our graduates in shaping the cultural economy—locally and beyond.
It is especially encouraging to see textile-informed making gaining this level of visibility, realised by an ambitious and closely interconnected community of graduates. We are proud to support and celebrate this significant achievement.”
Juliet Fellows-Smith, Museum Manager of the Burrell Collection, added: “This venture demonstrates how museums can support new talent and connect historic collections with contemporary audiences in fresh, meaningful ways. Flora’s vision breathes new life into our galleries, and we are excited to see people’s reactions.
“What makes it so exciting is that it shows young people they can create real opportunities for themselves here in Glasgow. Flora made a conscious decision to build her career in Scotland, taking inspiration from our collection and working with local makers, rather than feeling she had to go to London or Paris.
“Through the workshops and exhibition that follow, we want to be transparent about that journey – from inspiration to final collection – so that other young creatives can see these pathways are open to them. At a time when the future can feel uncertain, this collaboration is about creativity, confidence and showing that you can shape your own future using the talent, heritage and resources we have right here.”
Flora studied Fashion Design at The Glasgow School of Art from 2020-2024, and in her first year, she won the J.D. Kelly Memorial Prize for the best first-year student in Design. In 2022, she completed an exchange at The Paris College of Art, then In 2024, she won the Chair medal for the School of Design. Flora’s first collection, supported by NET-A-PORTER’s Vanguard Education Fund in partnership with the British Fashion Council, is inspired by the Burrell Collection. A rising design star of the future, having previously appeared on Icons of Style with Kirsty Wark, Flora McFarlane is rapidly gaining recognition as a leading voice in Scottish fashion.
The dynamic creative relationship between GSA’s graduates and the team from the Burrell Collection, whose foresight and imagination supported bringing Flora’s vision for this event to life, underscores the importance of the thriving interdependent cultural ecosystem within Glasgow – a city that houses production, craft, and design-making talent across national companies, independent businesses and individual artists, which is essential to support and sustain creative work at this ambitious level.
The Glasgow School of Art and its graduates’ play a key role within the city, reinforcing and maintaining Glasgow as a leading centre for cultural and creative production at a scale that exists in no other UK city outside London.
For further information please contact press@gsa.ac.uk.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
About The Glasgow School of Art
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world.
Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy delivering a European-style art education.
Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3500 students and staff across architecture, design, digital, fine art and innovation in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) and a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1500 students annually.
About Glasgow Life
Glasgow Life is a charity working for the benefit of the people of Glasgow. We believe everyone deserves a great Glasgow life and we find innovative ways to make this happen across the city’s diverse communities.
Our programmes, experiences and events range from grassroots community activities to large-scale cultural, artistic, and sporting events which present Glasgow on an international stage.
Our work is designed to promote inclusion, happiness, and health, as well as support the city’s visitor economy, to enhance Glasgow’s mental, physical, and economic wellbeing. For more information visit www.glasgowlife.org.uk.
