First woman tailor in history of Savile Row Kathryn Sargent has made history as the first woman to open a tailor’s shop since Savile Row first started selling suits 213 years ago. Ms Sargent, 41, has broken the glass ceiling in the traditionally maledominated world of London tailoring. Ms Sargent, whose clients include the Royal family, politicians, actors and David Beckham, will take up a trial summer residency at her new premises at 37 Savile Row. She said: “As a tailor it has been a long held ambition of mine and throughout my career I have upheld the excellent values of Savile Row. I am thrilled to be making history, although for me being a woman is incidental, I am a tailor first and foremost.” She started her career at renowned Gieves and Hawkes, working her way up from sorting buttons and threads to the respected position of head cutter. She was the first female to hold the position on the Mayfair street. In 2012 she opened her own tailoring house, Kathryn Sargent Bespoke, where a two-piece suit - for men and women - starts at £4,200 with an additional £1,500 for made-to-measure
alterations. She said having her own Savile Row shop would be “unachievable for someone like me”. l William Skinner, managing director of Dege & Skinner and chairman of the Savile Row Bespoke
Association, said: “It’s fitting that the first woman to be appointed as a head cutter on Savile Row is returning, to open a shop of her own and is testament to the continued appeal of Savile Row as the home of high quality, handcrafted tailoring.”
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