Show Notes
Being a tailor is a profession. It has been since 1563 when laws were passed that stated you could only trade as a tailor if you had served your term learning the craft.
Today, there are around 13,000 tailors across the UK, and while Savile Row may be synonymous with the craft, most tailors are working their magic in our satellite cities and market towns.
On this week’s The Factory Next Door, we head to Macclesfield to meet Brita. She’s a celebrated tailor in her own right, as well as being the driving force behind The Tailoring Academy – a school teaching our next generation of tailors.
Number 29 on our list of the greatest products we make in Britain is The Three-Piece Suit.
As we explore the Academy, Brita explains why having an engineers' mind helps to be a good tailor, the zen-like state you must journey into when spending hours hand-sewing, and we celebrate operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti.
We also catch up with a former student to learn how the craft has changed his life, and discover why tailors, when they first meet, never look each other in the eye.
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The epicentre of the global pen industry used to reside in Birmingham. Then the plastic biro arrived and everything changed. But in the city’s jewellery quarter, a team of skilled silversmiths are ensuring the history of Birmingham’s pen industry continues to be written. Number 52 on our list of the greatest things we make here is the propelling pencil by YARD-O-LED. Owner Giles English shows us around the company’s historic workshop as we celebrate a 100-year-old design, admire irreplaceable machines, and learn the meaning behind the company’s distinctive name. Also on the show, we explore the power of loss, Giles talks about the birth and sale of the Bremont Watch Company, and we discover the important distinction between chasing and engraving. Say hello on Instagram @thefactorynextdoor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.