Icons of Style: Kirsty Wark on her passion project new series

Kirsty Wark in Spanish cowboy boots, La Fetiche sweater and kilt by Samantha McCoach.

In her 30 years hosting Newsnight, journalist and broadcaster Kirsty Wark fearlessly grilled countless important public figures, including eight prime ministers, about the weightiest of subjects.

She won plaudits for her unflinching interviews about election scandals, economic crises and diplomatic backstabbing.

When she retired from Newsnight last year to explore new projects, you might have expected the 70-year-old to tackle something fairly solemn. A treatise on Brexit, perhaps? I hear global tensions are quite high at the moment.

Kirsty exploring fashion history with designer Pam Hogg in Icons of Style.

Yet it seems Kirsty is going from breaking news to breathtaking shoes.

In Icons of Style, a two-part BBC documentary, the Dumfries-born broadcaster delves into the history of Scottish fashion, and how such a small country made such a huge impact on the global fashion scene.

Icons of Style

Along the way Kirsty chats to flamboyant figures like Alan Cumming, Sharleen Spiteri and drag queen Ellie Diamond: Quite the change from interrogating the grey-suited politicians and spads lurking around Westminster.

Yet there are probably few more qualified to talk about Scottish style than Kirsty Wark. Fashion is in fact her secret passion, and has been since she was a wee girl.

Kirsty Wark at The Burrell Collection in Glasgow.

We meet for a coffee in Glasgow’s Burrell Collection and, when asked, Kirsty can rhyme off the provenance of her sky blue La Fetiche jumper, cowboy boots from one of the last remaining cordwainers in the Tramuntana Mountains in Spain, and her on-point kilt. “The kilt is from Samantha McCoach of Le Kilt, who features in Icons of Style,” says Kirsty.

“Her granny came over from Italy, Sam started making kilts because her granny taught her. And now her kilts are everywhere. I first got mine five years ago, I didn’t know it was Sam! Now even Claudia has been wearing it on The Traitors…”

That’s Claudia Winkleman, of course, whose understated elegance when hosting The Traitors drives thousands of viewers to track down what she’s wearing. That’s right: Kirsty Wark got there first.

Love of fashion

The interest in fashion seems to come from childhood, when mum Roberta and dad Jimmy began to embrace the style of the 1950s. “My mum was very interested in fashion,” says Kirsty. “We didn’t spend a lot of money on it but she was interested. I think because they (mum and dad) came out of the war and the ’50s came along with a new look and a change in society, that allowed them to embrace style.”

She recalls her first “big” outfit, the one that sparked her clothes obsession: A party dress with puffy sleeves and a frilly collar. Next was a black and red striped drop-waist dress, from the Kilmarnock department store Lauders, when she was eight.

“I remember loads of outfits, in fact I’ve still got things of mum’s,” adds Kirsty. “Particularly the big dirndl skirts. You know, the ones with a tight waist.”

Not only does fashion come from her childhood, she passed it on to her daughter, Caitlin.

“I wanted to make a series about style and fashion in Scotland, because we have a head start in so many areas: Kilts, for example. Harris Tweed. Shetland knitting. Lace-making in Darvel.

“And I suppose the actual idea for the documentary partly came from my daughter, who did her Masters on a cardigan.”

Does she mean she did her Masters wearing a cardigan?

“No, she followed this particular cardigan from the Chanel factory, which is now Barrie, and the three generations of women who worked on it,” explains Kirsty. “The grandmother was the finisher, the mother was the constructor and the granddaughter the fit model.

“She followed that cardigan all the way to Fifth Avenue, to when Gisele Bundchen wore it.”

In the documentary, Kirsty talks about having a shoe problem. Not the kind where you have a hole in one of the soles, more like the kind where you have far too many. Just how many pairs does she own?

“Not that many! 40 or 50?” she laughs. “The problem is I don’t throw them out. I’ve got shoes from the ’80s in my cupboard.”

One thing Kirsty doesn’t like is fast fashion. She lasted for 30 years on Newsnight, but that’s nothing in comparison to some of her garments. She is, after all, wearing a jacket she inherited from her Auntie Anna which was purchased in the 1950s.

“I’ve got things because they last. I’m not saying I don’t buy too much, but they’re things that last and I keep wearing and wearing and wearing them,” she says. “We used to go on holiday to Ireland as a family. I remember a big package arrived from Forsyth’s, for mum and me, ordered by my dad. It had two big oilskins in it – he obviously knew an Irish holiday was going to be very wet.

“I’ve still got it. I’ve still got the Aran sweater I bought when I was 14.

“I really, really don’t like fast fashion at all. Yes, OK, it’s affordable, but if you then have to throw it away then you just have to buy another one. Whereas if you buy something that’s good and look after it and repair it, it will last.”

Kirsty once asked Margaret Thatcher why she was so unpopular, and another former prime minister, David Cameron, said she “terrified” politicians who appeared on the show. Fashion, compared to politics or hard news, is often seen as frivolous. I wonder how comfortable Kirsty feels going from fronting Newsnight to a show about clothes.

“We all have to wear clothes,” she shrugs. “And part of the way that you, I suppose, express yourself, is to be what you wear.”

Alan Cumming friendship

Alan Cumming certainly embodies that philosophy. He appears on Icons Of Style and recorded a message thanking Kirsty when she left Newsnight last year. It is an unlikely friendship on the outside.

“He’s great, I’m very fond of him,” says Kirsty. “I’m going to Winter Words next weekend, and he asked me to go and do something, so he’s interviewing me, which is going to feel slightly bizarre. I’d never met him before, his energy is just extraordinary.”

Alan presents the US version of The Traitors, whose line-up features celebrities, and the hit UK version is going to invite celebrities to the castle later this year. I wonder if Kirsty has been asked…

“Oh God, it would be too terrifying for me,” she laughs. “You never know what might happen to you in there. Anyway, no. No.”

I argue that she would be ideal as a Faithful because she is both forthright and a fearsome interrogator.

“I am quite straight down the line,” she adds. “But no.”

‘I spoke up about Wallace’

Kirsty Wark became one of the first people to publicly accuse MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace of inappropriate behaviour.

She appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011, and last year said Wallace told stories and jokes of a “sexualised nature” in front of contestants and crew.

BBC chiefs are conducting an inquiry into the accusations. Wallace’s lawyers say it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.

Within hours of Kirsty’s interview about his alleged behaviour being aired, trolls were aiming criticisms at her rather than Wallace. Many said she should have spoken up sooner.

“But I did – it’s on record that I spoke to a producer on MasterChef,” said Kirsty.

“I’m not really active on X/Twitter. I know what I saw and I spoke out. Until we get the result of the inquiry, it’s ongoing.

“But I’m glad I called it out. What I’m surprised about, or perhaps I’m not surprised, is how long it went on for afterwards.

“I did what I had to do. Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but if it draws attention to the fact that there are huge imbalances in the industry, and sometimes they can be exploited, that’s very important.”

Icons of Style, BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer on Sunday, March 16 at 9pm