By Laura Chesters
Daily Mail, London
Daily Mail, London
THE first female master tailor on Savile Row said the street is undergoing a renaissance and attracting younger customers, writes Laura Chesters.
Kathryn Sargent, who has dressed royalty and celebrities including David Beckham, launched her first shop at 37 Savile Row yesterday, 20 years after embarking on her career.
She is the first woman to open a shop on the Mayfair street, once regarded as the home of stuffy, elderly gentlemen.
Sargent said: ‘I’ve been welcomed. When I was younger, of course I had to prove myself. You need the years of formal training.’
She added: ‘Savile Row is a community and women are actively encouraged into the business. I have had a lot of positive feedback and support.’
Although she is the first female master tailor – someone who can cut and make a suit and run their own business – she said ‘being a woman is incidental. I am a tailor first and foremost.’
She has joined the Savile Row Bespoke Association which has 18 businesses as members. She said: ‘The street is undergoing a renaissance. More and more younger people come to buy suits.’
