Kathryn Sargent, the tailor who in 2009 became the first female head cutter on Savile Row, has moved her flagship London atelier from Brook Street to 21 Ryder Street in St James's. The Savile Row Bespoke Association (SRBA), of which she is an associate member, announced the move on 18 October 2024. The new atelier is in an Edwardian building across Piccadilly from Savile Row.
The relocation came six months after Sargent opened a second atelier in Edinburgh, at 19B Howe Street. Both work by appointment: the London atelier from Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm, and Edinburgh from Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 5:30pm, according to the SRBA. The announcement did not give an exact opening date for the Ryder Street premises.
A Gieves & Hawkes training
Sargent served her apprenticeship at Gieves & Hawkes at No. 1 Savile Row, one of the founding member houses of the SRBA, and rose to head cutter there in 2009. In 2016 she opened her own namesake tailoring business on Savile Row, the first woman to own a tailor on the street, CNN reported in a later profile of women working on the Row.
Her house does not work to a fixed silhouette. The SRBA describes her tailoring as made for all genders and built around each client's needs and personality, without a set house style. That sets her apart from the older houses that are known for a signature cut. Our guide to Savile Row house styles explains how those signature cuts differ.
Women and the bespoke trade
Sargent's move sits within a wider shift in who cuts and makes on Savile Row. Anda Rowland of Anderson & Sheppard told Spear's in 2025 that women have often worked behind the scenes in the trade, making garments rather than cutting them, and that when she arrived she was the only female principal of a large firm on the street. Rowland also told the magazine that Anderson & Sheppard has six young apprentices and receives about six apprenticeship applications a week. In March 2025 the Golden Shears, the national competition for apprentice tailors and students, was won by Joanna Spreadbury, an apprentice at Huntsman.
“In the past they’ve usually been behind the scenes, making, not cutting.”
Anda Rowland, Anderson & Sheppard, to Spear's
What it means for clients
For clients, the practical change is the address. St James's sits a short walk south of Savile Row, and the move keeps Sargent within the cluster of bespoke tailors and shirtmakers in central London. Clients in Scotland now have an atelier in Edinburgh rather than needing to travel to London for fittings. Anyone planning a first commission should read our guide to bespoke fittings, which explains how many visits to expect and what happens at each one.
