The female-run tailor reshaping Savile Row suiting

(CNN) — Some of the best suits in Hollywood have come out of the same modest street in London. Since the 19th century, Savile Row has been a mecca for bespoke men’s suiting, and tailors in the area have created pieces for superstar actors such as Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire, Gregory Peck and Daniel Craig. But there’s always room for more innovation.

Just round the bend, one of Savile Row’s youngest tailoring houses, HAX, is redefining the experience of getting a handmade suit — particularly for women. The operation is helmed by 27-year-old Hattie Glendenning, who worked at Savile Row on the weekends as a teenager, and who has now dressed celebrities from Sophie Turner to Lady Amelia Windsor in HAX pieces. “For a long time it felt like the tailoring world was quite stuffy,” Glendenning said in a recent interview. “It was really inaccessible. There wasn’t much for women and the price points were so high.” Glendenning has made a name for herself by offering her female clients a service in an industry that is largely male dominated — both in terms of tailors and customers. “It’s really important to sit down with someone, to make them feel relaxed,” she said. “It’s quite a personal process.”

Each HAX suit starts with a consultation. Glendenning takes measurements, and starts discussions on color, silhouette and fabric. “Do you want it to be slinky or do you want it to feel rigid?” she asks. “This is like a piece of armour we’re creating.” Most of her fabrics come from the British cloth merchant Dugdale, which reworks archival fabrics from the mid-19th century, and operates in Huddersfield, in the North of England. “We would be nowhere without the cloth we use,” she said. “It plays the biggest role in the finished piece.” Whether customers are looking for an oversized, broad-shouldered power suit or something more quietly commanding, like a cinched bar jacket, nothing is out of bounds. “The options are endless, and the creativity can roam free,” she said. For one of her clients, Glendenning made a Austin Powers-style ‘70s-inspired gingham flared suit. “I don’t think I’ve ever made the same suit twice,” she said.

The spectrum of who she sees in her shop, she says, is wide, ranging from 18 year olds looking for their first ever suit in preparation for their first job, to those shopping for their wedding outfit, as well as older clients with a penchant for the tradition of made-to-measure. While her unique business has appealed to women, men shop there too. “It’s so special,” she said, especially dressing bride-grooms for their nuptials. “You go through this wedding process with someone, and you have to very sadly wave goodbye at the end of it when they take that lovely suit,” said Glendenning. But sometimes, “those people walk back through the door for another occasion.”

Created in the 1730s as an extension of the Burlington Estate, Savile Row began as a stylish though largely residential street, home to many wealthy military officers and statesmen. The need for precise tailoring drew experts from the North of England into the area, who set up shop to meet demand. Ironically, despite serving mainly men, the road was originally named after the 3rd Earl of Burlington’s wife, Lady Dorothy Savile. One of the first shops to blend Savile Row tailoring with couture for women was Hardy Amies, which opened in 1945 and became Queen Elizabeth II’s official dressmaker. But Savile Row didn’t get its first female-owned tailor until 2016 when Kathryn Sargent founded her namesake store.

Today, Glendenning believes made-to-measure for women is essential. “If you look further back, women always used to have their clothes made,” she said. But modern shopping habits and off-the-rack fashion has meant most women buy something readymade and if necessary alter the garment to fit.

Bespoke, she thinks, “is a confidence booster.” From perfectly fit trousers to jackets tailored to busts, “I feel my female clients when they come in,” she said. “It’s like a sigh of relief.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.