Celebrities are known for their elaborate entourages, featuring hair, makeup and nail artists, plus chefs and personal trainers. Now a new recruit has joined the lineup: the personal tailor.
Beyoncé is said to have hired 12 to work backstage on her costumes during her London Renaissance shows, while Stormzy’s stylist Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe told GQ the rapper won’t wear anything without it being tailored to his 6ft 5in frame, describing it as now a “non-negotiable”. Meanwhile, magazine editors are finding more and more A-listers arrive at shoots with their own tailor to ensure off-the-peg looks are perfected.
Lately, it’s begun to trickle down from Hollywood to the high street. Influencers now caveat shopping haul try-ons with a disclaimer that they haven’t taken the pieces to their tailor, while alterations app Sojo has had to hire additional tailors to work at its Selfridges pop-up, pictured below (in the first week alone, orders were up 147%).
“We’re extremely busy at the moment. We get a lot of calls and people dropping in,” says Romeo Nzuzi, who works at his family-run business, No One Famous Tailoring, in London. Alongside the usual requests for wedding-guest outfits, there is high demand for blazers, jeans and shorts.
It’s well-documented that sizing on the high street is a bit of a guessing game, with discrepancies from piece to piece and retailer to retailer. You could slide into a pair of size 12 trousers at Arket, but in Zara struggle to get a pair with the same-sized tag past your thighs. As a result, tailors report that customers are buying the next size up and then altering pieces to fit their actual frame.
Fashion trends are also impacting demand. As fast fashion brands churn out blazers with exaggerated shoulders, and low-slung billowing trousers, consumers are finding themselves swamped in fabric. There’s a fine line between an oversized fit and looking like a child playing dress up in their parents’ wardrobe.
A bespoke suit remains aspirational for many people. But as an alternative, some consumers are happy to buy a low-priced and low-quality suit (co-ordinated two pieces start from £20 at Boohoo and £70 at Zara), then spend anywhere from £10 to have the sleeves shortened to £45 to have the jacket adjusted to their body shape.
“It’s the fit that is usually off,” says Nzuzi. “Those pieces are designed with a one-size-fits-all approach, but everyone is built differently. People want to feel good in their clothes so we give things an extra tweak to perfect them.”
“Sizing that runs from XS to XL is limiting,” says Carol Ai, a New York tailor who works with celebrities such as Cardi B and Olivia Rodrigo. “Someone could have a larger chest or smaller hips. Someone might like something to fit tight at the waist, others prefer it looser. It all comes down to personal preference.”
While many limit tailoring to shortening hems and nipping in waists, Nzuzi has used TikTok to show just how expansive a tailor’s skillset is. His videos of tailoring streetwear pieces such as North Face puffer jackets and streamlining Nike tracksuits have gone viral, attracting a whole new generation to the Leyton-based shop where he works alongside his mum.
However, it’s not just about downsizing pieces. A tailor can also increase the size of an item that may be too small. Nzuzi has turned skinny jeans into straight-leg ones, while Ai regularly tweaks typically small sample-sized pieces to fit her clients. “I might have to add in a panel, or if something is too long and small, I’ll shorten the hem and then use that fabric to add extra room around the hip,” she says.
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While it is customary for stylists to use claw clips to temporarily hold pieces in place on set, it’s now becoming more common for them to work closely with a tailor during shoots.
Ai regularly finds herself flying at short notice from New York to Los Angeles to adjust pieces for Cardi B and her husband, the rapper Offset. Even their children’s clothes are altered. “A stylist will source the clothes and then I’ll work through the night to do the adjustments”, she explains.
As for the barely-there dress trend that has become the norm on the red carpet, Ai is still in high demand – despite there being less fabric to work with. She recently tailored cut-out trousers for the singer Doja Cat, adding criss-cross grommets “to show even more skin” and modifying a leather bra. And with Love Island in full swing – where such garments are almost mandatory – local tailors could find themselves doing much more than standard hemming this season.
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