FUN AND FASHION FROM ROW'S NEW STARS

The recent Golden Shears Awards catwalk show provided a spectacle of  fun, fashion and amusement that one would not normally associate with Savile Row. Aimed at encouraging young tailoring trainees, this event provides a heady mixture of the skill, talent and eccentricity that has always been part of the Row’s make-up, and  indicates that there are plenty of new disciples ready to carry on its traditions.

Winner of the Golden Shears, Rory Duffy,
and Paulo Nicodemi, who took the Silver Shears award,
give their take on the allure of Savile Row
and its on-going attraction for them In interviews with Tony Rushmer,

Rory Duffy (pictured right, with one of the judges, David Furnish, and the model wearing his winning entry) can point to a number of defining episodes that set him on the path to emerging victorious in this year’s Golden Shears contest.

As a child, there was the regular sight of his mother, herself the daughter of a tailor, working away on a sewing machine. There was also the time when – as a young man unclear of where his future lay – he made a ‘fancy dress’ garment for a girlfriend, who in turn suggested he consider a tailoring career.

But perhaps the most significant moments arrived one afternoon while working at a west of Ireland tailoring firm where he had taken an apprenticeship in the Spring of 2002. With his employer away visiting customers, Rory had been left to tend the shop. Having attended to the necessary cleaning chores, he was flicking through a 1998 issue of Clothing World when he stumbled on an article about Henry Poole & Co. of Savile Row.

The piece, with input from Poole ’s managing director Philip Parker, made an instant and enduring impression on Rory. Duly inspired, not long afterwards the aspirant tailor visited London and sought out the firm credited with being the founders of Savile Row.

Taking up the story, Rory recalls: “I was in Oxford Circus and knew that Savile Row was quite near. So I went for a walk down the Row, called in at Poole's and met Philip. I told him that I was interested in doing tailoring in London and he suggested different colleges that I should look at.

“I ended up applying to the London College of Fashion and doing their Handcraft Tailoring course. When I went to LCF, Philip said he’d take me in for some work experience (one day each week). He also said that there was a possibility a position would become available by the time I’d finished the course.”

Sure enough in July 2006, a month after Rory had completed his course, he started as an apprentice coat-maker at Henry Poole. The ensuing years have seen him create a favourable impression with his employers as the 26-year-old’s hunger to succeed has backed up an obvious talent.

Philip Parker, centre, with Simon Cundey in the Henry Poole showroom.

“He really has been a great apprentice to have,” says Henry Poole director Simon Cundey. “He is an absolute Trojan when it comes down to work ethic. His energy and search for quality never stop. It’s in his character.”

From Rory’s perspective he couldn’t have been in better hands, learning his profession under Paul Frearson as part of a happy and committed team. “Working for Henry Poole’s means a lot to me,” he says. “There’s a good team spirit and everybody is very willing to help each other.”

The Golden Shears was always going to be a red-letter occasion for Duffy as it rounded off his apprenticeship. Rory went along that night with the reassuring thought that - whatever the outcome – he was to head into work in the future as a qualified Savile Row tailor.

Attending with his parents and brother, he couldn’t see himself winning the £2,000 first prize and the accompanying Golden Shears – which, incidentally, sat proudly on Poole ’s reception desk in the aftermath of the big night.

He says: “I turned up on the day, had a look in, saw the ladies’ wear and thought ‘I can’t beat that’. At that stage I just relaxed.” But his outfit – a frockcoat and kilt in navy and cream window pane check – wowed the judges and both the glory and spoils were his.

Paulo Nicodemi is proof positive that if you want something badly enough and are prepared to put the necessary time and effort in, you'll get your due rewards.

Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day each saw him working away on his entry for the 2009 Golden Shears award. And, while the top prize went to Rory Duffy, Somerset-born Paulo, pictured right, still had the immense satisfaction of landing the Silver Shears, accompanied by a £1,500 prize.

It was appropriate that the judges chose to recognise the ability of the 28-year-old - an apprentice at Anderson & Sheppard for three years - for his is a story of natural talent, desire and huge determination.

Paulo, who is dyslexic, was studying at Bath College for a BTEC in Fashion and Textiles when he found himself drawn to the nearby Costume Museum located in the Roman city.

He recalls: "The costumes were all originals - anything from the 1600s onwards - and it was the handcraft that I liked. I had always had an interest in fashion but the interest in tailoring came from that."

With the seeds of his ambition established, Paulo went on to study in Bristol where he secured an honours degree in Fashion - but finding his way to becoming an employee of a Savile Row firm was less straightforward.

He took a management job with a leading high street fashion retailer and opted to transfer to one of their West End stores. But if he was within a stone's throw of the renowned tailoring hotbed, it must have still felt a million miles away as - at first - the doors steadfastly refused to open

"I pestered Savile Row for about a year," he says. "I must have written about 100 letters - I was desperate really."

The light at the end of the tunnel appeared in 2005 when Anderson & Sheppard's MD John Hitchcock put him in contact with John Kyriacou, who ran an off-site workshop for them.

John Hitchcock at work in Anderson & Sheppard.

Initially Paulo still retained his day job with a high street company, but each afternoon after finishing his shift, he'd head off to the work-shop to observe John Kyriacou at work. The hungry student absorbed every stitch sewn and every inch of cloth cut.

"He showed so much enthusiasm watching me work," recalls Kyriacou, who after three months recommended his young pupil be taken on by A & S as an apprentice.

As for Paulo, he is under no illusion about how important a figure Kyriacou has been in his development. "He has been a massive influence," says Nicodemi, who adds: "I've got a dream job...it doesn't get much better."

Paulo, whose love of Savile Row is clear, enjoyed competing in the Golden Shears for which he made a tweed shooting jacket with pleats and plus two's with a vest coat (see Style p3).

"The competition was really good and any one of the 26 (finalists) could have won," he says. "I was more than happy just to be in the finals - to win the Silver Shears was amazing...very unexpected."

With his apprenticeship finishing in April, Paulo is now poised to take his next step forward with A & S as a coat-maker.