One of the guests on my recent trip to the Highlands for the Fraser Balgowan Experience was Cator Sparks who is Editor in Chief of www.LookBooks.com as well as a writer for publications such as The Huffington Post and New York Times. I interviewed Cator yesterday, the day after he shot a deer on the deerstalking trip. He already loves Scotland, as borne out by the fact that he has a Scottie dog who lives in his Harlem apartment. He needed no convincing to hop along to the Highlands for a spot of deerstalking and fashion. Impressively, Cator turned up for the interview wearing a kilt complete with the most spectacular looking sporran you will ever see in your life.
What happened when you went on the deerstalk?
We watched the seasons change in the space of a couple of hours; from rain, to fog, to sun. Thankfully it didn't rain whilst we were at the top of the mountain. I learned about the whole process through Ewan (the deerstalker). We rode up the side of the mountain in a six wheeled vehicle - the Argo - the ultimate man's toy, then rambled up the hill, walking for a couple of miles until we spotted some deer. They saw us and ran away so we went around.
It was fascinating being that high, that peaceful, that quiet and finding these spectacular creatures. As Ewan said - the Highlands are his office - not too bad of a place to go to work every day. I have to commend Ewan for spending his life dedicated to these wonderful animals; taking care of them, following them, watching them and culling the herds. It’s a spectacular job and it's interesting to learn about.
And then of course we found the herd, dropped down, put on our caps and Ewan whispered to me what to do, set up the rifle - he really was a great, great teacher - it was wonderful to have that experience with him. He told me what to do and I did it. We were successful, we got a great stag.
Is this your first time hunting?
Properly yes. I grew up in the American South so my father was always quail hunting, dove hunting. My brother in law is always deer hunting so it's not something new to me. I was a bit experienced in that world but I had never actually taken part in it. So to do this in Scotland was even more exciting and more out of the box, it was wonderful.
The hide from the deer you shot will now be made into your own bespoke bag. What difference will this experience make to the way that you feel about that bag?
It is hugely special to me. It means so much. I don’t know any luxury company in the world that can say ‘Come and shoot your own hide’. These companies are using hide from cattle from god knows where. We probably don’t want to see where these animals grew up, in cages or wherever. So to know that my bag was from a deer that had to be culled and that had an amazing life in the best part of Scotland - that I was the one who culled the deer is, well - you can’t get any more personal than that in creating something. And then working with Fiona Fraser to find the right tweed, the right design for me – it’s such a bespoke luxury. It’s what men are looking for these days.
Does shooting the deer yesterday change your perspective on the process of making bags?
Yes, it definitely changed my perspective on the luxury world and the leather and hide world. I’m going to be really judgmental now. I will now go into a department store and see those leather bags and know that all those pieces of leather are probably from who knows where, different cattle or whatever skin it is.
The Fraser Balgowan bags are usually made from one deer and you know exactly where it came from so I think that’s really special. It could be a big game changer for a lot of luxury brands to step forward and say – we do need to work with game hunters, we do need to work with deer stalkers to gain skins in a more respectable fashion.
I know when I was in a luxury store recently they were very excited that their crocodiles grew up in the same cage so that they could have similar skins for a large coat. That turned me off the coat immediately. They were proud that these animals grew up in a cage together. Not exactly what I would want to buy but we all do, we always have and this is a whole new way of thinking.
Do you think that other people should get the chance to do this?
I think everyone should have this chance. Anyone who eats meat or wears leather should experience it. If you eat the meat and wear the leather you should really experience killing the animal and I think this is a wonderful way to do it with someone who is so knowledgeable and really loves these deer and takes care of them.
It is Ewan's life job - a wonderful job - and he has so much experience and so to have this moment with him in the Highlands for Fraser Balgowan – I think everyone should try it once. It’s also a great excuse to come to Scotland to do something you may have never done before, to experience hunting in a whole different way.
To find out more continuing news about the story of Fraser Balgowan go to the website here: Fraser Balgowan
Big thank you to Matt Brown for providing all photos for this post, check out more photos from Matt here: www.mattbrownsphotos.tumblr.com
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