Are we giving suits the boot?

Business Daily

BBC

News, Business

4.4 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2020

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Is the era of the suited office worker at an end? Is the era of the suited office worker at an end?With so many people working from home because of the pandemic, there is far less demand for formal work attire. This is impacting those that make it all over the world, as we learn from Richard Anderson, a tailor on Savile Row - the street in London synonymous with suits - and Raja Fashions in Hong Kong, whose tailors usually travel the globe fitting their clients. We hear that while some office workers can't wait to dress up after the pandemic, others have embraced and even expanded their pyjama collection. Plus, Heather MacGregor, Executive Dean of Heriott-Watt Business School, tells us how her work wear has been impacted by working from home.

(Picture: a tailor adjusts a customer's suit in the fitting room at Henry Poole's in Savile Row, London, 1938. Credit Getty Images.)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello there, I'm Ed Butler and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC. Today, as we all work from home,
0:07.6	is the era of the suited businessman at an end.
0:11.6	Suits have never gone out of style. On the country, you will see a lot of people will be very serious after this virus is gone.
0:20.2	People will want to do business in a very serious way, no more casual way.
0:24.4	Not everyone's quite so convinced.
0:26.5	I think people will travel less.
0:28.5	Now we've seen what is possible.
0:30.4	We will spend a lot of our time on our computers doing video calls
0:34.5	and made me realise that I'm going to have to dress for the screen now,
0:38.8	whatever happens, however many vaccinations are handed out.
0:41.7	Giving suits the boot. That's Business Daily from the BBC.
0:48.2	Well, this certainly feels a little bit different, doesn't it? I've stepped out of the BBC office
0:53.1	for the first time in ages. It's a chilly
0:55.2	December morning and I've come to a street which is a global byword for sartorial elegance.
1:03.8	I'm in Savile Row and I'm going to meet one of its most established tailors.
1:09.8	Well, good morning. My name's Richard Anderson. I'm a Savro Taylor.
1:13.8	I've been in the trade since I was 17 years old, which is a long time ago now. And we all have
1:20.2	our particular roles. So it's my job to measure a customer up, transfer those measurements to a
1:25.1	paper pattern, and then then see the whole production through
1:28.0	from start to finish. So I'm kind of like the architect, if you like, and my team of
1:31.8	tailors are the builders. Okay, so I should say a thing or two about Savile Row for those who
1:36.0	don't know the place. It's been here in London's and West End since the 18th century, 250 years
	...

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