4 minute read
EMMA WILLIS
The fine art of bespoke shirt-making
Emma Willis MBE talks about her journey to becoming one of the world’s leading bespoke shirt-makers and describes the elements that make a great shirt
How did your career in high-quality shirt-making begin and what were the origins of your business?
I started o in the fi ne arts side of the creative world, studying at Slade School of Fine Art. After leaving Slade, and to fund my artistic career at the time, I worked for a company that sold clothes, including men's shirts. Soon after, in 1989, I set up my own small company doing the same thing, selling shirts from a wonderful little bespoke shirtmaker in south-east London.
I found there was a real market for beautifully made shirts in beautiful fabrics. I became very interested in how such products are manufactured and came across a Swiss mill with wonderful cottons that I still use today. I visited my customers personally, including travelling to New York and Paris. At that stage, most of my customers came to me through introductions and word of mouth. After about 10 years of doing this, I decided it was time to put down roots and fi nd a shop in London. The obvious place was Jermyn Street in St James’s – a pilgrimage to the heart of the bespoke world.
What is the process for being fitted for an Emma Willis shirt?
Our bespoke shirt service can be provided in our Jermyn Street shop or online. When a customer visits us in person, we take their measurements and discuss the particular fi t they would like, as well as their collar size and sleeve length.
After selecting the fabric, an initial shirt is made up for the customer to try, which normally takes about four weeks. Once the correct fi t has been confi rmed then the remaining shirts are produced, with a minimum order of four for our bespoke service. Our online bespoke service follows the same process,
but our customers provide their own measurements and design details online.
When we are cutting the patterns in our factory, we send all of our customers a photo of their shirt being cut, with their name written on the pattern, and being sewn as well. This gives the customer a connection with their shirt being made and a truly personalised service. We also keep each customer’s pattern for use in future orders.
How many people do you have on your team and what is their background?
Our factory is in an 18th-century townhouse in Gloucester, where we have about 20 people on our creative production team, almost all of whom are from the local area. Our top seamstress, Katja, has 35 years’ experience of making bespoke shirts, and she trains all the people who join us. We've trained a lot of young people who are interested in coming into the trade, but haven't had any previous experience in sewing. This ensures we maintain and harness these important shirtmaking skills for the next generation.
What are the factors that go into making a great shirt?
Aside from the skills of our shirtmakers, the quality of the fabric is fundamental to a beautiful shirt and how long it will last, and how it's going to feel when worn. We start with a very high-quality raw cotton – most likely Egyptian or West Indian Sea Island. Most of our cotton comes from the Nile Delta, which has a perfect climate and soil, and where they have hundreds of years’ experience of cultivation.
The spinning, weaving and finishing methods of the cotton are also extremely important. A proper finish will ensure there is no shrinkage and a lovely smooth finish.
Neat, tidy stitching is also very important. We use single-needle stitching on all our seams, rather than the twin-tracked seams that are more associated with mass-produced shirts. Our single-needle stitching takes longer to do, but it creates a very neat seam. We match all our patterns at the seams, so checks, stripes and patterns – even florals – are carefully matched, which takes much more skilful cutting and a lot more time. This makes the finished shirt aesthetically very pleasing.
The collar is the hardest part to make and requires a lot of experience. The collar pattern is very important – I created two patterns many years ago, which we continue to use today. Both work well with or without a tie, which is so important these days.
We also use real mother-of-pearl buttons, which are very pretty and have a lovely iridescence –with either white or naturally smoked buttons, for the dark shirts. It is this kind of attention to detail that is appreciated and sets our product apart from the standard shirt-making process.
Finally, are there any well-known people we might have seen wearing an Emma Willis shirt?
Among the famous people for whom we’re proud to have made shirts are His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, James Bond star Daniel Craig and fashion model David Gandy.
Our shirts have also been seen in various movies, being worn by Benedict Cumberbatch, Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth, for example. It’s fun to see how they're styled, depending on the drama and situation. Emma Willis 66 Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 6NY
Email: sales@emmawillis.com Tel: +44 (0) 20 7930 9980
www.emmawillis.com
