This week’s video guest is Savile Row tailoring consultant Nathalie May of Fielding & Nicholson, whose career is apparently a "nice hobby".
She was on the train in a chalk-stripe suit when a woman stopped her, full of admiration, only to ask the inevitable question: “So what do you do?” Nathalie explained she was a tailor.
The woman beamed and said, “What a nice hobby.” Can you imagine! Something to fill the weekends between Pilates and Waitrose 🤣
The stereotypes cling on. People still imagine Savile Row as a line of ancient men with pins in their mouths and measuring tapes draped like clerical stoles, murmuring about fabric weight.
They don't imagine Nathalie, or the growing number of women shaping a trade once thought the preserve of tweedy grandfathers.
Clients bring those same assumptions. They come expecting their grandfather’s tailor, and what truly catches them off guard is when the experience does not match the sepia image in their heads.
Luxury often lives in that gap between reverence and disruption. A chalk-stripe suit has all the gravitas of tradition, yet in the hands of someone like Nathalie it suddenly feels fresh, relevant, modern.
The lesson for luxury is obvious. You needn’t discard heritage, but you must know how to play with the story people believe they already know.
Every lazy assumption is an invitation. Handle it well and what begins as a patronising “nice hobby” becomes the opening scene of a very different conversation.
Enjoy the interview and if you want to contact Nathalie, you'll find her on LinkedIn at: Nathalie May - LinkedIn
