What does it mean to be cool? Columnist Marissa MacWhirter asks if we have reached post-irony, and if following the herd is finally in vogue

“Look, if the function doesn’t have a derelict factory aesthetic, I’m not interested.”

In a mash of typefaces, the statement scrawled across a series of warehouse pictures is sardonic. The carefully trained eye would notice that one of the photos depicts the historic George Brown & Sons Engineering Works, a three-storey industrial workshop vacated by the family firm earlier this year.

“But only if the derelict factory interior has less seating than a small café,” my favourite comment reads. “I need to feel both ruggedly working class and like the plebs are being excluded.”

The meme, from the growing Instagram account “stockbridge_yummy_mummy”, is an acerbic reading of the Edinburgh hipster. Anyone who has strolled past the endless queue of Salomon XT 6 trainers snaking their way around the coral awnings of Lannan and spilling down Hamilton Place has the first ingredient needed to make the soup of references hinted at on the account.

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The latest carousel begins with a black square (“can you believe this is Edinburgh at 4pm ?!?”) and ends with a nod to the GB workshop. It comes a few days after Gunnar Groves-Raines announced the building would be reimagined as a new arts and foodie destination for the coolest part of Edinburgh. Brown’s of Leith will become part........

© Herald Scotland