'Scotsmanless' scarf, Atelier E.B, 2015. Lambswool, Made by Begg x Co, Scotland.

Lambswool scarf in black, grey and white with a design showing an empty scroll motif incorporating thistles and a blank space where words should be

© Atelier E.B.

Atelier E.B (Edinburgh Brussels) is the company name under which the designer Beca Lipscombe and the artist Lucy McKenzie sign their collaborative projects. Based between Edinburgh and Brussels, their work blends historical research, design and art, creating fashion collections, commissioned displays and interiors, textiles and publications. McKenzie studied Art at University of Dundee's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, and Lipscombe studied Fashion/Print at Central Saint Martins, London. They formed Atelier E.B in 2007 and since 2011 the pair have operated as a fashion label which, where possible, uses local production methods in Scotland and Belgium; and also focuses on alternative forms of distribution and display. Lipscombe and McKenzie place art and design on an equal footing, applying methodologies from both spheres.

On Instagram, 17 May 2016, Beca Lipscombe wrote the following as a caption to a picture of the Scotsmanless scarf:

"Founded in 1817, The Scotsman is a Scottish daily newspaper published in Edinburgh. The Scotsman title masthead, with iconic thistle design, was an integral feature of the cover. In 2014 the Scotsman downsized to premises out of the city centre to make way for new tenants, computer games company Rockstar North makers of Grand Theft Auto, illustrating the changing nature of the media.

On September 18th, 2014, Scotland's citizens were invited to take part in a referendum on Scottish independence, initiated by the Scottish Government and agreed by the UK Government as part of the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill, passed in 2013. In response to the question "Should Scotland be an independent country?", 55% voted "No" and 45% voted "Yes." The Scotsman newspaper did not support the "YES" vote.

Through textiles, Atelier E.B. asks the question who and what is Scotland now?"

In the Inventors of Tradition II publication that accompanied the collection, Linsey Young wrote:

"Politics comes back to textiles. The masthead of The Scotsman newspaper, now itself a symbol of a badly declining industry, is translated into a football scarf, crafted in the finest Scottish lambswool, its empty centre a swansong for a symbol of Scottish intellect, politics and pride. The weighted absence recalls Felix Gonzalez-Torres's The Absent Body, that most public display of bereavement."

T.16-2023