London's Savile Row has been a destination for fine men's tailoring for 213 years. Yet there's still room for firsts: Last week, Kathryn Sargent became the first female tailor to open her own store on the historic street.
Sargent began her career at royal tailor Gieves & Hawkes. In the 15 years she spent there, she became the first woman to be made head cutter at a Savile Row tailor, NBC reports. She opened up her own store on nearby Brook Street in 2012, and counts the royal family and David Beckham as clients.
Now, Sargent's name will stand alongside other legendary designers such as Hardy Amies, Henry Poole, and Ozwald Boateng — and Sargent told the Evening Standard that she was “pinching herself” at the prospect.
"It was very unusual, some 20 years ago when I started, for me to be in the cutting room and for me to be training," she told BBC. "but I have had a lot of positive feedback and a lot of support from my colleagues on Saville Row."
While she started drawing as an art student, Sargent quickly found a passion for tailoring. At the time, though, "there weren’t many women doing menswear at college." However, this seems to be changing. "There’s more and more women coming through now and doing the training, " she told The Guardian: "65% of the newly qualified tailors last year were women. It is more diverse."
Sargent makes garments for both men and women now, and her creations come with a suitably snazzy price tag: A bespoke two-piece suit will cost upwards of $5,900, while made-to-measure suits start at just above $2,100.
Hopefully, we'll soon see more women’s names above the doors on Savile Row. It's about time for female talents to be present in the male-dominated realm of bespoke tailoring.
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