APPRENTICES: DILLON CLARKE

DILLON CLARKE, 22, FROM LONDON.

-

WHAT GOT YOU INTO TAILORING?

I was interested in making things, and in particular sewing. The earliest thing I can remember making was a coin purse for my sister in primary school, and embroidering sequins onto it in her initials.

It was later though that I became interested in suits. Watching the first season of Peaky Blinders as a child, I thought how incredible it was that their was a time when people did everything in their lives in suits, and how good they looked doing it.

CAN YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU SAW SOMETHING THAT HAD BEEN MADE BY A TAILOR, AND IF SO, WHAT YOU THOUGHT?

Not really. I remember going to Savile Row looking for a job like anyone who’s decided they wanted to learn about tailoring, and having never actually seen proper tailoring until then.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT MAKING THINGS?

I like the autonomy of it. The freedom you get from making something the way you want to and to slip into your own world as you do.

I like the focus as well - that constant quest of improvement, and I like the satisfaction of the process: taking something from an idea into a made object that represents a lot of time, effort and hopefully skill. It’s very gratifying.

ARE THERE ANY PEOPLE OR THINGS, INSIDE OR OUTSIDE OF TAILORING, THAT HAVE HAD A PARTICULAR INFLUENCE ON HOW YOU GO ABOUT TAILORING?

Any stories of people that have gone to great lengths to learn a skill, not just tailoring but other things as well, always inspire me.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR THOSE WANTING TO LEARN ABOUT TAILORING?

 Always be honest with yourself about poor work and just move on to the next try.