REPORT BY OSMAN AHMED
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHANIQWA JARVIS
Is there anything more versatile than a simple white shirt? No, according to Patrick Grant, the designer behind the most fashionable Savile Row tailor E. Tautz.
“We had a Japanese department store ask us to make a small collection of womenswear, and Katie [Hillier], my other half, has been nagging us to do it for ages,” says Grant. “The white shirt can work with anything – it’s all singing, all dancing.”
The collection, ranging from collarless bib-fronted shirts to classic crisp shirts are cut with narrower shoulders to match the female form. “We started by cutting little boys’ versions of our men’s shirts,” he says. “I wanted it to be fun and easy. It’s not groundbreaking design, but it’s lovely quality and works with everything. The aim was to do something simple and very British. There’s something about women borrowing their boyfriend’s clothes – there’s substance.”
As for his white shirt muse? “Probably some bloke who’s woken up in the morning and said, ‘Where’s my shirt gone?’”
We’re sure Patrick won’t be having that problem again…
