Passage II

To Sew on Savile Row

Bespoke tailors create men’s suits exactly to a customer’s specifications, aiming for refined elegance and technical flawlessness. Regardless, a focus on bespoke tailoring has made Savile Row a small, street in London, the world’s most distinguished location for menswear for over two hundred years. In 2008, Savile Row Academy, located within the bespoke suit shop called Maurice Sedwell, at 19 Savile Row, was established to celebrate this time-honored craft.

Customers are fitted on the main floor of the shop. In the well-lit basement, students of various ages and backgrounds master the dozens of skills needed to make a classic three-piece bespoke suit. Traditionally, a bespoke suit is created beginning from start to completion by one tailor, who rarely uses a sewing machine. The students’ primary tools, therefore, are tailor’s chalk, shears, needles, and a thimble. During the two-year professional training program, students learn to take measurements, draft patterns; cut cloth; hand sew coats, vests, and trousers; create pockets; and stitch finishing details. Creating one suit requires well over a hundred hours of concentrated work, even for an expert.(22)

[1] From the size of the buttons on the coat to the angle of the pleats on the trousers and nearly every feature of a traditional bespoke suit is chosen by the customer. [2] Still, Andrew Ramroop, owner of the Sedwell shop and founder of the Academy, encourages his students, to develop their own style within those constraints. [3] Ramroop is known for his inventive use of color,especially contrast stitching in pockets. [4] Adhering to the traditions of the craft is a must, he explains, but your signature style is what will bring your customers back.(27)

While mass-manufactured suits have become standard in many suit shops on Savile Row; however, several Academy graduates have found jobs pleasantly working in the shops on the street that remain committed to classic design and unmatchable craftsmanship. Many others have taken their shears and needles to fine tailoring houses around the world.