Since the early 1800s, London's Savile Row has been the epicenter of men's tailoring. There's Gieves & Hawkes at 1 Savile Row. Huntsman is at no. 11, Hardy Amies is at no. 8, and Richard James is down at no. 29. And now a new face comes to the street—and, for the first time, the name above the door is a woman's. Kathryn Sargent has opened at no. 37. “Women haven’t traditionally been encouraged here,” the 42-year-old Sargent says, “but we’ve always been here. Behind the scenes, sewing, doing essential work.” But before she was the first woman to have her name on the Row, she, as she puts it, “broke another mold” as the area’s first woman cutter when she worked at Gieves & Hawkes for 15 years. And it’s that apprenticeship that she seems to value as much as having her own business. “I’m not just a woman who opened a shop out of the blue,” says the accredited master tailor, who is rumored to suit both Hollywood and House of Windsor royalty. “Anyone, male or female, who opens a shop on Savile Row has trained for a long time. So I’m first and foremost a brilliant tailor. If I were male, opening a shop here really wouldn’t be international news.” Suits start at $4,580, with two or three fittings and a four-month wait time. kathrynsargent.com.
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Kathryn Sargent: The Woman of Savile Row
On the legendary street for suiting, a new name is above the door.
