San Francisco Frontiers - Apprentices breathe new life into historic Savile Row

The sartorial street known for dressing the world's elite, from royalty to spies, is celebrating its trainees at a showcase coinciding with London Fashion Week, which runs until Monday.

"In the last year and a half, we've seen a big surge... of people applying for apprenticeships," said Simon Cundey, managing director and owner of Henry Poole & Co, one of the oldest bespoke tailors on Savile Row.

For years, apprenticeships at the street's exclusive houses were informal and even unwelcome, with master tailors reluctant to share the tricks of their trade with newcomers.

But with the rise of ready-to-wear fashion, tailors on the Row came together two decades ago to formalise an apprenticeship programme that would ensure the craft gets passed down between generations.

Over 100 people have graduated from the Savile Row Bespoke Association (SRBA) Apprenticeship Scheme since it launched in 2007.

Apprentices spend between two and six years being trained by a Savile Row house to specialise in making coats or jackets, trousers or cutting before being appraised by a panel of master tailors.

While the UK's heritage crafts are increasingly considered at risk of dying out, Savile Row retailers say the scheme has reinvigorated the tailors, maintaining the quality and reputation of their craft.

When Jinny Seals, 45, joined Henry Poole in 2002-2003, the average age in the workshop was around 55, and she was only one of three women.

"There was a bit of a drought of apprentices," the veteran coatmaker told AFP. "However, now ... they've got piles of CVs for people wanting apprenticeships."

And "there's just as many girls as boys", Seals added. "Things have changed a lot in a relatively short period of time."

- New lifestyle -

In the Henry Poole workshop below the shop floor, hip-hop music blasts on the radio and trainees and mentors work side by side, heads bent over sewing machines and sheaves of cotton and wool.

There are three apprentices at the tailor's, with two more poised to start.

Wendy Berberi, 22, joined Henry Poole during the pandemic when she was 16 and looking for a career in fashion.

"I didn't really think it'd be Savile Row because it is mainly menswear. But when I did start here, I really, really enjoyed it," said Berberi, who completed her apprenticeship this year.

For the newly qualified Savile Row tailor, an apprenticeship makes sense because "you've got to be right next to a person to learn it".

"I do feel like apprenticeships are starting to become the way forward in certain industries," she said, adding that she enjoyed learning the "old-school methods" and "keeping the tradition going".

According to Cundey, "there's a high demand now for a different way of life" since the Covid-19 pandemic, with people turning away from office jobs and looking for stable careers making things with their hands.

"Learning a craft... it's a safeguarding job because you only tend to get better as you get older," said Cundey.

- Slow fashion -

A few shops down from Henry Poole, Dege & Skinner has four apprentices, with a fifth starting in September.

It is the "most ever at any one time", managing director William Skinner told AFP, adding all of them will be women.

The Golden Shears Award, which celebrates tailoring students, marks its 50th anniversary this year, with Savile Row houses displaying the works of past winners in their windows during London Fashion Week.

The London Academy of Bespoke (LAB), located on Savile Row, last year launched a pre-apprenticeship course for budding tailors.

"There was quite a lot of sustainability in mind" and talk about "slow fashion", said Seals about the courses she has taught at LAB.

A "kickback" against fast fashion and the environmental consequences of the waste it produces also lies behind interest in the LAB course and apprenticeships, added Seals.

"It was interesting to see that people have actually looked at that (fast fashion) and thought, nah, I'd like to learn the old ways," she added.

"It kind of makes you realise what we are... doing is never going to end."

W.Carter--SFF