Vanguards magazine explores Scotland's undiscovered creative treasure

Vanguards is a new publication founded by James Roberts and Hugo Ross whilst completing their degrees at Edinburgh College of Art. The quarterly magazine celebrates Scottish brands and products that the pair admire. The history and accomplishments of these brands are realised editorially by young Scottish creatives including photography by Cora James, collage by George Douglas and illustrations by Jack Fletcher. This first issue of Vanguards is a very exciting move in publishing that invests within a community through intelligent content and design.

The inspiration for Vanguards began last year while Hugo was setting up a pop-up shop, Rail with friends in both London and Edinburgh. The team used Laurence Odie to manufacture jumpers for the shop and, impressed by his process, Hugo and James felt he should not only be documented, but celebrated. “The idea sort of spawned from his background,” Hugo explains. “We went up to the Shetland Islands to meet him and befriended him. We realised that this guy was far from being a one man band, he had about 15 employees who were salt of the earth people, very genuine, very honest, very ‘Scottish’. We came to realise that Laurence was actually an outsource manufacturer for all these brands that we liked, APC for instance, big luxury labels. We couldn’t understand why he wasn’t a household name, at the time he wasn’t even stocked in the UK. That was the birth of it.” Talking to Laurence about their idea allowed Vanguards to open up and grow further. “He assured us that his story was cool, but it was one of many, and that Scotland has this real rich tradition in design and manufacture and it was that which spurred us on. We were damn lucky, there are so many sweet stories out there, and so many undiscovered.”

Appreciative of magazines such as The Gentlewoman, The Happy Reader and The California Sunday Magazine the pair wanted Vanguards to “fight the trendy mag” with its content being the dominant power, not just the aesthetic. This is an aim Hugo and James have certainly achieved with a treasure trove of inspiring features including a modernist house on the Scottish borders, salmon farming in Loch Duart, coats by manufacturer Mackintosh, and brewery Black Isle.

With help from editor Beccy Clarke, design by Stewart Armstrong and an abundance of personable creatives, issue one of Vanguards is now available. Next the pair plan to create three more issues based in Scotland with their “bank of stories that couldn’t fit in this issue.” They also hope to develop a more earnest editorial point of view. “We would like to take the magazine in a different place though, be a bit more critical, as this magazine is very celebratory. We’d like to be a bit more outspoken about what we think is right and what isn’t.”