Women-only tailoring house opens on London's Savile Row

[September 17, 2020]    By Sarah Mills

LONDON (Reuters) - For more than 200 years, Savile Row in London's elegant Mayfair district has been the place to go for discerning men in search of the perfect, tailor-made suit.

Now, for the first time, a tailoring house has opened on the storied street that offers made-to-measure suits exclusively for women.

"We're called The Deck because it's about reshuffling the deck," said founder Daisy Knatchbull. "We are the first tailoring house to focus on women to have a shopfront on Savile Row," which she described as a very male-dominated environment.

"So things are changing," she said. "Suits for women isn't just a trend. It's here to stay."

Knatchbull opened her business in 2019 in affluent Chelsea, further west, but when an opportunity came up to move to Savile Row she felt it was too good to pass up, despite the dire economic circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes, I know it seems a strange time," she said. "If you want to win big you back big, right?"

"This is the place to come for the best tailoring in the world, and it's known worldwide. And so the prestige of this street, it's an amazing thing to be able to be a part of that."

The Deck is aiming squarely at the luxury market, with suits starting at 2,200 pounds ($2,850) and prices varying depending on the fabric. An all-female staff of tailors is on hand for fittings.

"What you're getting, you're investing in quality and durability and longevity, and all these great things that move towards more slow-mo fashion rather than fast fashion," said Knatchbull.

Asked whether she was concerned about a shrinking market for business suits, given the high number of white-collar professionals working from home, Knatchbull said suits were not limited to the workplace.

"I'm not going to say there hasn't been an impact, but our clients invest for the future," she said. "It's trying to make the suit something that is so versatile."

"I want them to feel they can wake up in the morning, put it on with the power of trainers, run around in it all day and then put a pair of heels on, a nice shirt and they're ready for dinner," she said.

(Reporting by Sarah Mills and Will Russell; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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