The Best-Dressed Pioneer: Remembering Jane Hall (formerly Davidson)

By Nicola Campbell-Turnbull

Helen Jane Hall (12th January 1946 – 24th February 2025) was more than a boutique owner; she was a trailblazer who transformed Scotland’s fashion landscape. With an innate sense of style, a deep understanding of her customers, and an unshakeable vision, Jane brought designer fashion to Edinburgh at a time when international labels were a rarity north of the border. Her boutique, Jane Davidson, became an institution—one that dressed generations of Scottish women and helped shape the capital’s retail scene.

In 1969, an empty shop and a keen eye for fashion set the stage for something extraordinary. Jane, then a young woman with a passion for style, saw an opportunity to bring high fashion to Edinburgh. With a van borrowed from her husband’s antique shop, she drove to London, returned with an armful of exquisite pieces, and the Jane Davidson boutique was born.

The shop’s first home in the Grassmarket was a reflection of Jane’s own refined taste. Styled like a French salon, with velvet drapes and a wardrobe-like setting, it offered a glamorous yet intimate shopping experience. The early days saw exclusively British designers—Jean Muir, Ossie Clark, and Jean Varon—grace the rails, and the boutique quickly became a destination for Edinburgh’s most stylish women.

As demand grew, so did Jane’s ambition. In 1985, she relocated to Thistle Street in Edinburgh’s New Town, evolving with the needs of working women. “It was much more about separates and German tailoring,” recalls her daughter, Sarah Murray. “You’d buy into a collection—the jacket, trousers, skirt, blouse, coat—it all worked together. That was a revelation in fashion because it made shopping easy.”

Jane’s success was not just about the clothes but the relationships she built. Customers became lifelong friends, drawn back not just by the fashion but by Jane’s warmth, wisdom, and understanding of what made women feel confident.

“Mum is and always will be an ambassador for the store,” Sarah once said. “It was her vision; she created it and ran it successfully for years. But she was also a people person—she gave so many customers a shoulder to cry on, help, and advice. She grew the business by nurturing her customer base.”

My own first encounter with the Jane Davidson store was in the late nineties, maybe noughties, when, as a fashion writer for Drapers, I was sent to Edinburgh to judge the boutique for the Drapers Independent Retail Awards. Though I’d grown up in the city, Jane Davidson had always felt out of reach—legendary, exclusive, aspirational. That day, I met Sarah, who had recently taken over the business, she seemed inspired by her mother's achievements and keen to continue her mother’s legacy of bringing the best of designer fashion to Scotland.

There were stories in my own family about Jane, too. My father had known her in their youth, through a lively Youth Fellowship group in Edinburgh’s west side. It didn't sound like the Youth Fellowship groups of my time. Years later, Jane found herself seated next to my Irish-born mother at a dinner party or perhaps standing side-by-side at a very Edinburgh social gathering. Unfamiliar with Edinburgh’s retail royalty, my mother innocently asked, “Oh, what kind of shop do you have? A sweetie shop?” I can only imagine Jane's face as she tried to explain to mum what her 'shop' actually sold. The anecdote became a family joke, but in time, my mother made up for the faux pas—buying a couple of cherished pieces from Jane’s boutique, including, if my memory serves, a Christian Lacroix skirt.

Later in life, I met Jane in a very different setting—pressed together in the cramped changing room of St Anne’s Church in Corstorphine, both of us serving as the responsible adults in the behind-the-scenes chaos of a children’s ballet class. By then, she was a devoted grandmother, ferrying her granddaughters to and from lessons, ensuring ballet uniforms were in order while Sarah carried on the business.

Jane Davidson, the boutique, long championed individuality, diversity, and empowerment—values that reflected its founder’s own spirit. Jane had a way of making women feel amazing.

Jane’s legacy lives on, in the countless women whose confidence she bolstered, whose style she refined, and whose lives she touched. Scotland’s fashion scene—and the women who walked through her shop doors—will forever owe her a debt of gratitude.

The best-dressed pioneer, indeed.

A Fashion Trailblazer Beyond Edinburgh

Eric Musgrave, former editor of Drapers, the UK’s fashion industry bible, reflects on Jane Hall’s influence—not just in Scotland, but across the UK and beyond.

As well as delighting her customers, Jane was an inspiration to other womenswear boutique owners across the UK and Irish Republic. Contrary to the pervasive London-centric obsession of the fashion world, the success of Jane Davidson in “distant” Edinburgh showed that there was a lively market for directional and creative dressing well north of Oxford Street.

In the heady days of the 1980s and 1990s, long before online shopping spoiled everything, there was a Premier League of independent womenswear stores dotted around the country and Jane was always near the top of that table.

Journos like me would consult her for comment on what was happening on the retail front line – and there was always a lot going on in her immaculate domain in Thistle Street.

Looking back, Jane was lucky to be trading when market conditions allowed indie trailblazers to shine – and the industry was lucky to have had her to inspire them.