Haptic & Hue

Cabbage and Mungo: How Recycling Returned To Savile Row


Listen Later

There is a quiet revolution happening on Savile Row in London, home to some of the world's finest men's outfitters, as the makers of bespoke suits embrace textile recycling in a unique new scheme. A number of houses on The Row have been collecting woollen offcuts as they cut and tailor handmade men's clothing – just as they did in times gone by– and sending them off to be recycled into new yarn, which is then woven into fresh cloth. The radical difference is that this time the recycled cloth is being bought back by these high-end workshops to be tailored and sold to the Row's own bespoke customers.

Savile Row, in the heart of London, has been at the centre of high-quality men's tailoring for 200 years. It has supplied handmade suits, from the finest woven cloth, to film stars and royalty, to statesmen and sportsmen. It has a reputation for quality and excellence second to none. Now it is embracing recycling, and it seems, its top-end clients are happy to pay for it.

It's incredibly rare to find a recycling loop like this one – especially in textiles - where the waste is turned into quality new material to be used by the same workshops that created it in the first place. This episode tells the story of how this is happening and follows the journey that turns tiny bits of fabric that would previously have been binned, into new bespoke garments, ones that come with great credentials and an interesting story behind them.

Along the way Haptic & Hue gets a privileged glimpse into the world of Savile Row tailoring – the training and the standards that need to be maintained from start to finish to produce a garment that may well last a century or more.

If you would like to see a full script of this episode, see photos or discover links to further information about the topics discussed you can find all this information at www.hapticandhue.com/listen. You can follow Haptic & Hue on www.instagram.com/hapticandhue/

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Haptic & HueBy Jo Andrews

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

301 ratings


More shows like Haptic & Hue

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

91,086 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,583 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,552 Listeners

The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman

The Allusionist

3,022 Listeners

Seamwork Radio: Sewing and Creativity by Seamwork

Seamwork Radio: Sewing and Creativity

733 Listeners

Selected Shorts by Symphony Space

Selected Shorts

2,880 Listeners

Cultivating Place by Jennifer Jewell / Cultivating Place

Cultivating Place

357 Listeners

Love to Sew Podcast by Caroline Somos & Helen Wilkinson : Sewing Enthusiasts and Entrepreneurs

Love to Sew Podcast

1,080 Listeners

Threads Magazine Podcast: "Sewing With Threads" by Threads Magazine

Threads Magazine Podcast: "Sewing With Threads"

265 Listeners

Dressed: The History of Fashion by Dressed Media

Dressed: The History of Fashion

1,510 Listeners

Articles of Interest by Avery Trufelman

Articles of Interest

3,608 Listeners

The Long Thread Podcast by Long Thread Media

The Long Thread Podcast

222 Listeners

Sew What? by Isabella Rosner

Sew What?

68 Listeners

Check Your Thread: Sewing More Sustainably by Zoe Edwards

Check Your Thread: Sewing More Sustainably

98 Listeners

ill-advised by Bill Nighy by EYEPOD Studios

ill-advised by Bill Nighy

481 Listeners