Day 7 Last Interviews- Kathryn Sargent, Meyer & Mortimer

These are the last interviews we had to do for the project it was bitter sweet because it has been a hard couple of weeks but meeting such extraordinary people every day is what we will miss most about the project. First we went to Kathryn Sargent the first woman Head Cutter known to Savile Row! Hear what she had to say about her journey! Kathryn Sargent

Next we interviewed two men that worked at Meyer and Mortimer, Brian, the main head cutter and co owner of Meyer & Mortimer and Norris, an alteration tailor. Brian has such a great personality! When he was being interviewed he didn’t stop telling such great stories of what Savile Row was like when he first started and how he got to where he is today.

Interviewing Brian

Next we interviewed Norris who is an alteration tailor and he was so sweet and kind, one thing about his interview was that when we asked him “what are the tools of your trade” he couldn’t wait to show us! You could tell that he was so excited to show us his tools and that showed his passion and love for the trade that he is in!

Norris

BTS

All interviews would be up very soon! If you want to see more about the project go to http://www.tailoredstories.org.uk/index.html !!

Day 6 (Extension) – LCF Student Talk, Deconstruct Workshop and Jacket Collar Sampling

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/

Day 6 Interviews at Anderson & Sheppard, 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.

Day 4 – (Behind The Scenes)Interview with Samantha Lucas & (Audio) Philip Parker and Paul Fearson

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

Day 3 – Meeting The Industry at WGSN and Street Style!

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”.

Day 2 – Merchant Taylor

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.