Malcolm Plews doesn’t work on Savile Row any longer. You will find him at Meyer & Mortimer’s at nearby Sackville Street.
However, if you ask a Savile Row cutter, who is the best Savile Row cutter today, chances are great they will name Malcolm Plews, perhaps together with Edward Sexton, who neither is on Savile Row nowadays.
Although Malcolm Plews and Edward Sexton have left The Row itself they still embody the highest art of Savile Row cutting.
Malcolm Plews has worked more than 50 years as bespoke tailor at Savile Row firms, for instance at Gieves and Kilgour. Being tailor to prince Charles he holds a Royal Warrant. In short, if someone has the keys to a true Savile Row suit it must be Malcolm. So I decided to make an inteview with him.
Content of the interview
Malcolm Plews touches upon:
- His own way into Savile Row
- How cutting and tailoring have changed on Savile Row
- Savile Row in the 1960s and 1970s
- Tommy Nutter
- When small tailors had to leave Savile Row
- One man business vs big houses on Savile Row
- The importance of quality and fit
- Differences between coatmakers
- How to draft a good pattern
- Rock of eye and manipulation of a block pattern
- The right fit
Thank you for the interview. Torsten. Please allow me to be a little critical. The content is interesting for sure. However, I find the sound quality too bad. The microphone is just too far away. You make it even more difficult to understand him by saying “yes” and “no” all the time.
The picture is too static as well, offering no rest to our eyes for the whole interview. And since there’s no interruption from Plews’ flow of words either, it’s fairly fatiguing to watch 23 minutes this way.
You could either include some shots of the wonderful shop in between Plews’ words. That would give us some rest. Or you could split up the interview in sections of, say, 5 minutes.
I think a friendly warning about the sound quality wouldn’t do any harm either 😉
What I would like to hear from Mr. Plews’ mouth is why he continues as an independent tailor at his age. If this was mentioned somewhere, forgive me. Also, it’s good to have his words published, but these are his personal views on the matter. As in any competitive business, others may have other views. Finally, to call him perhaps the best cutter would need more than 1 source and some evidence so definitely looking forward to the result 🙂
For your information, Tobias tailors (Mr. Roetzel’s former tailor) has started again, teaching his daughter to be a SR tailor. It could be interesting to have him interviewed too – hint, hint.
Thank you Potter for directing my attention to improvements. I realise I must do better next time on numerous aspects like questions, interview technique, cutting clips, and sound. Sadly, some shoots from the shop and London I had to ditch. I’m learning 🙂
In regard to the claim that Malcolm Plews is one of the very best Savile Row cutters, or “perhaps the best”, I think it is absolutely fair to say that as an introduction to him. I’ve probed MP. Moreover, I have a suit in the making, as you notice.
Thank you, Torsten, and no worries, it was certainly interesting to hear Mr. Plews talk.
My ears just got a little stiff in the end 🙂
And yes, there’s always some truth to rumours.
Looking forward to reading more about your project with him.