Tailored Stories – An Oral History of Savile Row makes its TV premiere and will be shown at 20:05 on Monday 2nd November 2015.
It will be broadcast on the Community Channel which can be found at channel 63 on Freeview [Sky 539, Virgin Media 269].
Watch it with the family!
Don’t forget, it is still available to watch online at http://www.tailoredstories.org.uk/
The 24th June saw the launch of Tailored Stories – An Oral History of Savile Row at the London College of Fashion. Two days later the film was featured on Robert Elms Radio London Show.
The launch was introduced by the young people from LCF and Kensington & Chelsea College who were involved in making the film and they conducted a Q&A after the film was shown.
Hillary Carty from our major funders Heritage Lottery Fund wrapped up proceedings with an excellent speech.
A big thank you to everyone involved and those that attended.
The film is now online at http://www.tailoredstories.org.uk/ along with a short film called Tailored Portraits by Aashish Gadhvi visually showcasing some of the people in the film. There is also a short film about tailoring in neighbouring Soho.
All the audio versions of the interviews conducted for the project are on the site too.
Not only did we do interviews on this day but we also had the opportunity to meet and talk to a student at LCF (London College of Fashion) studying menswear, she gave a talk about the the final year that she is in currently and the how it is all going. She is currently working on a 18 piece collection and she is running out of time and she made sure to stress to us that time management is KEY!!
LCF Student
LCF Student showing her development work
LCF Student unfinished garment.
We also spoke to a man called Tim Wang who also did menswear that had left LCF 2 years ago and we all wanted to know how the transition is like finishing your time at LCF and moving on into the real world, what we got from him was that it wasn’t easy and you wouldn’t get a job straight away, you have to do internships and really build up your relationships to get into the industry. He also showed us his final collection at LCF.
Tim Wang Presentation
Tim Wang
Wang’s collection pieces
After the talk with the two LCF students half of us had to go and do interviews and the other half would stay and do a deconstructive workshop!
Deconstruction workshop presentation
Jacket before deconstruction
Jacket after deconstruction
We also learned how the collar in a jacket was made, for most it was difficult because we had to get the hang of how they are made by professionals and to get the perfect shape for a collar but we later go the hang of it.
Brianna’s Collar (KCC Student)
Nina’s Collar (KCC Student)
Before putting on the mannequin
To see what else we got up to in Day 6 heres the link https://tailoredstories.wordpress.com/2015/03/04/day-6-interviews-at-anderson-shepperd-dashing-tweed-and-gareth-crowe-fabric-dealer/
Yesterday was a day of full interviews! First stop Anderson and Sheppard
Anderson and Sheppard
When talking to the workers at Anderson and Sheppard everyone seemed to get along well, it was a very friendly environment but you could sense the competition amongst the workers, however everyone seems to be very loyal to the company’s heritage. The full interview will go up on www.tailoredstories.org.uk/interviews.html.
BTS at Anderson and Sheppard
Next we went to interview Guy Hills owner and founder of Dashing Tweeds.
Guy Hills and KCC students
Interviewing Guy Hills was refreshing because so far the interviews have been about the history of Savile Row and how it was like being a tailor in Savile Row in the 1960s however Dashing Tweeds started in 2008 and hearing Guy Hills story on how he got into the industry clearly represents the future and where the trade is going as far as technology is concerned. His interview will also be up shortly.
Last but not least for the day we interviewed the very witty and vibrant character Gareth Crowe, now a fabric dealer.
Gareth Crowe
Listening to Gareth Crowe talk about the trade and how the industry was back in the day was very insightful and gave you a glimpse into a world that was and still is in some cases very difficult to get into and hearing his story of different people that he worked with is something that kept us all on the edge of our seats waiting to hear more.
THE FIRST BEHIND THE SCENES INTERVIEW IS UP!! We interviewed Samantha Lucas a waistcoat maker at Henry Poole & Co, the oldest tailor company on Savile Row. Watch what she had to say!
http://www.tailoredstories.org.uk/film
We also interviewed Philip Parker and Paul Fearson also from Henry Poole, hear what they had to say.
Paul Fearson
Philip Parker
Yesterday we were given the opportunity to goto WGSN to meet two women that look at fashion trends all around the world to come out with the fashion trend before everyone discovers it.
WGSN Headquarters
WGSN Trend Reporters
We also had the opportunity to meet Toni Tran who is a studying architecture and founder of Fashitects which is a blog that combines fashion and architecture but also has lifestyle, grooming and travel into the mix. When he was giving his presentation he told us about the companies that he had an opportunity to work with like Hugo Boss, Aspinal London, Adidas, Russell & Bromley and the list most definitely goes on.
Toni Tran giving Fashitects presentation at WGSN
We also had the pleasure of meeting Jade Keisha Gordon who is the founder of JKG Photography , she is the blogger photographer but not only that she sets up her own shoots and collaborates with different companies to build up her online portfolio (http://www.jkgphotography.co.uk).
Jade Keisha Gorgon with Natt & Arianwen (Lecturer at KCC)
We also had a talk with Natt who is a blogger and founder of natthias.com however he also works for Drafted Magazine. He came to speak to us about how owning your own blog gives you a whole new leg up into the fashion industry that so many people want into. We were given a task by him to go out into the street of Central London and take pictures of some street wear that linked to Savile Row, this is some of what we found.
Street Style
Street Style Closeup
Street Style
Street Style
Street Style
Street Style
Street Style
Street Style
Street Style
The street style task was a great way for us to learn worlds idea of “suit smart”.
24th February, Yesterday we are taking a tour at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall to learn more about the history of tailoring in London and the history behind the archives.
Breakfast Room
Later on in the day we went to five different tailor companies and talked to cutters, tailors, sales people etc to ask questions about the industry.
Dashing Tweeds stood out because of their fabric choices, using a modern tweed to do a suit opposed to using the more traditional fabrics.
Lumatweel
Meyer & Mortimer was far more traditional compared to Dashing Tweeds however it was interesting to see the differences.
When visiting Anderson & Sheppard we spoke to a cutter how made sure to emphasise how important professionalism is and to remain calm through all that you do.
Kathryn Sargent is the first female head cutter known to Savile Row, she owns a really small tailoring studio in Brook Street. She builds great relationships with her clients to make them feel comfortable so she decided to make her studio look like a hotel suite.
Kathryn Sargent
Staff working on garments
Kathryn Sargent’s studio
Chittleborough & Morgan
Last and certainly not least is the wonderful Chittleborough & Morgan, Joseph Morgan is really into styling suits mostly with quirky accessories, He’s very much into modern styling rather than taking the traditional route.
Joseph Morgan
He let our students try out some suits. He talked about how tailored suits changes the way the body looks.
Yesterday marks the first day of the two week Savile Row Project. We went to the Museum of London to have a tour of the history of London through clothing (were people say is the city that invented tailoring) and the different eras.
The Museum of London Garden Room
Top left is the first ever bikini
We also looked at a deconstructed mens jacket and really saw the ins and outs of what really goes into making a tailored jacket.
Inside a tailored suit
The first week is focusing on research of tailors and the history of the industry, there is much more to come.
Founded in 1813, Peckham Rye has gone from a one man business into a globally recognised house of fine tailoring.
With a store just off Carnaby Street we paid them a visit prior to filming to get a sense for the place.
Record of customer details.
A selection of items from their RTW line.
More commercially viable accessories from the RTW line – commercial lines have seen Peckham Rye grow globally.
Men’s suit, in construction.
Family photo.
A waistcoat awaiting collection.
To check out Peckham Rye in more detail, http://www.peckhamrye.com/
With the filming dates creeping ever closer we took the opportunity to snoop around the workshops of the tailors who will be at the heart of the film.
Kathryn Sargent’s Brook Street Studio
Our first appointment added a much needed sense of femininity to the preconceived concept of the male dominated atmosphere that surrounds Savile Row, with the female tailor Kathryn Sargent welcoming us to her incredibly refined, and totally bespoke, studio. Constructed entirely in Britain, naturally.
A look down into the Henry Poole & CO Studio
Working away in the Chittleborough & Morgan studio a few doors down, apprentice Francis constructs a bespoke pair of trousers.
Chittleborough & Morgan hosted us, displaying their somewhat fashion-forward approach to tailoring.
“No, we are totally above fashion”
Close-up of a women’s blazer, in construction.
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