Kathryn Sargent, tailor

Created especially for this exhibition by London tailor Kathryn Sargent, this process jacket of Dugdale Bros & Co yardage illustrates the many layers and stitches involved in the creation of a modern bespoke Savile Row suit. This example has taken just over 35 hours to make and is only half finished. The left side features handmade buttonholes and edge stitching, while the right side reveals the full-wool hand-padded body and chest canvas and the hand-padded lapel and collar with lining edge tapes. Visible basting stitches are usually removed after the garment has been finished.
In 2009, while working at the veneragle Gieves and Hawkes, Sargent became the first female head cutter of a Savile Row firm. Today she runs her own establishment at the very same address that once housed one of Beau Brummell's tailors, Meyer & Mortimer. Of her profession, she says, "Tailoring is in my soul. I was born and raised in Leeds, itself once a great center for men's tailoring."