Anda Rowland, the long-time lead of Anderson & Sheppard, reflects on her tenure at the king’s tailor, the steady rise of women in luxury tailoring and why a remote island remains her summer retreat of choice.
Leading Anderson & Sheppard
It’s 20 years since I joined Anderson & Sheppard, which was previously owned by my late father, Tiny Rowland [a former chairman of the Observer and noted businessman who wrestled for control of Harrods with Mohammed Al Fayed in the 1980s]. Then we were still at 37 Savile Row. We were in an ageing building and not recruiting younger people. But today we have our bespoke shop on Old Burlington Street and our ready-to-wear haberdashery shop on Clifford Street. We also have six young apprentices working in the firm and we have, on average, six applications a week for apprenticeships. There’s definitely a new energy on Savile Row.
[See also: Fabrics collection celebrates King’s country oasis at Highgrove]
The rise of women in tailoring
When I arrived, I was the only female principal of a big firm on Savile Row. Now there’s Kathryn Sargent – who is incredible. She’s a master tailor and has her own company. But women have always had a very strong place in tailoring, it’s just that it hasn’t necessarily been recognised. In the past they’ve usually been behind the scenes, making, not cutting. And that’s what’s changed. There are more and more women in our community.
Textile challenges
Looking at textiles to find the right colours for our range is a really important, time-consuming part of what we do. In July we look at our summer buying for the next year, so we’ll be refining what we’re going to offer for spring/summer 2026.
One challenge in particular is cottons and linens. When the economic winds of change are not blowing in the right direction, mills tend to be really conservative. Whereas they might add three or four new colours in a normal year, in a weaker economy they’ll reduce the number. In that case, we have to look at other ways of getting the colours that we want. The popular colours this summer are tobacco, khaki, saffron and orange. You’ll have to wait to find out what the colours will be for next summer.
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Summer escape
I’ve been going to the same place in the summer for a long time – a small Greek island called Patmos. I have a house there. There’s no airport; it’s relatively difficult to get to. We spend three weeks, and it’s a mix of adults and children in the house. The beauty of the island is it’s very small and it has a strong sense of identity and community. It’s very welcoming, very family-focused and there’s definitely a sense of humour. We have a fundraising party for the animal welfare group that we’re trying to develop on the island.
There’s a couple of books that I’ve put aside for the summer. I promised myself I would try and read the Proust novels properly. I’ve tried several times but I’ve always put them down, so I’ve got those waiting for me.
Networking the future of fashion
I’m really looking forward to our next Women in Tailoring event in September. At our event in June we had ‘What I wish I’d known when setting up my business’ featuring four young entrepreneurs with tailoring or shirtmaking businesses. Molly Anderson, from Richard Anderson, one of the other great tailoring houses, was the moderator and it was sponsored by Luxury Fabrics, which owns four or five different mills in Huddersfield. At our meeting in April, fashion designer Zandra Rhodes spoke and 80 people attended. In fashion-textiles you’ve got to get out and meet different people and exchange ideas. That’s crucial for Savile Row’s next generation to thrive.
As told to Alec Marsh
This article first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 96. Click here to subscribe
