On Sunday 7th March 2010, The Young Victoria costume designer Sandy Powell was acclamed and voted best Costume Designer of the year at the 2010 Oscar ceremony. Angels the Costumiers also contributed to this success providing numerous original pieces of period clothing such as fully embroidered diplomatic coat and court dress.  Congratulation to them both for the reconnaissance of their art.

For many years, Hand & Lock has been working closely with Angels the Costumiers supplying them with gold laces and gold wire embroidery. Indeed, as specialized gold lacemen since 1767, Hand & Lock has been providing royal court, diplomats and the military with the finest hand embroidery. Recent commissions include embroidery for the King of Tonga Coronation, various pieces for the Sultan of Oman and a recent replica for Gieves & Hawkes  of Michael Jackson coat inspired by the Lord Chamberlain’s ceremonial coatee.

Being recognised experts in the field and with archives dating back to the 1790’s, Hand & Lock is often consulted by film and theatre productions looking for historic accuracy. Hence, over the past 5 years, the company has worked on Award winning ‘The Last King of Scotland‘, Golden Globes and Emmy nominee ‘Into the Storm‘, Tony Awards nominee ‘Wicked’ to name a few.

For all your enquiries about gold & silver wire embroidery, please contact Claire Barrett: claire@handembroidery.com / +44(0)207.580.7488

With the new Walkers crisp advertising campaign staring ‘Match of the Day’ host and former football player Gary Lineker and wife Danielle, Hand & Lock show their embroidery skills.

For all enquiries about Hand & Lock machine embroidery services, please contact Theadora: theadora@handembroidery.com / +44(0)207.580.7488

From a classy embroidered bathrobe to the finest hand embroidery onto bed linen, Hand & Lock can help you make her a very special present.  View our selection and contact Sana for more details: sana@handembroidery.com

Looking for something even more special: why not book her on a course at Hand & Lock…School of Embroidery. Choose from 8 different techniques and give her a unique experience.

To view the new 2010 School schedule, please click here or contact Sara: sara@handembroidery.com

Hand & Lock new U.S Embroidery Lecture Tour will take place from early March till April 2010. The lecture entitled ‘A Taste of the Rich tradition of Embroidery‘ will cover various subjetcs such as:

1. The origins of embroidery, and its development.
2. Gold and silver wire and military embroidery, and how military lace and cords are made.
3. An outline of different techniques in hand embroidery, and the Irish and Cornely machines.
4. A presentation of seminal embroideries eg. The Bayeux Tapestry.
5. A brief history of Hand & Lock est. 1767
6. Aims and details of the ‘Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery’.
7. Contemporary embroidery and its future.

There are still a couple of dates available.

Shall you like more details about Alastair’s lecture tour and to discuss details please contact Ciara Banks: +44(0)207.580.7488 / ciara@handembroidery.com

For more military embroidery please visit our website: www.handembroidery.com

Contact Sana for more details on our embroidery services.

Hand & Lock will take its School of Embroidery to America in early Summer 2010. Run in conjunction with New York embroiderers Penn & Fletcher, the School will offer 3 courses:
- Goldwork
- Tambour Beading
- Cornely

Starting in June 2010, the School of Embroidery New York will soon be taking bookings: watch this space.

While waiting, why not view the new schedule of courses run in London? Click here.

About Penn & Fletcher:
Penn & Fletcher produces the finest U.S embroidery for Soft Furnishing, Theatres and Interiors. Their designs are an intricate mix of new patterns and centenary techniques that results in wonderful embroidery pieces.
Visit Penn & Fletcher: www.pennandfletcher.com

New this year: the addition of gold & silver wire available for purchase. Contact Sana for more details.

Time: 10.00am to 4.30pm
Where: Hand & Lock Studio, W1W 8TE
When: January 28th & 29th

Since their foundation, both tailors Gieves & Hawkes and embroiderers Hand & Lock have been working very closely. At the time, M.Hand provided both Gieves and Hawkes & Co with all the finest goldwork and military embroidery to complete their uniforms. Today, latest collaborations between the two include:
- The Coronation of the King of Tonga in 2008
- A replica of Michael Jackson’s coat (Hand & Lock also supplied Gieves & Hawkes with the embroidery for the original coat)

For any design enquiries or to receive a quotation for military and bespoke embroidery please contact carne@handembroidery.com

Savile Row’s first wardrobe mistress Kathryn Sargent has the measure of tradition
The bastions of male dominance have nearly all fallen now. There are women judges, women chief constables and women bankers. There has even, if memory serves, been a woman prime minister.

But Savile Row is not the City of London, or the judiciary; they hold on to their traditions with a bit more determination there, and it has taken until the second decade of the 21st century for the heartland of bespoke tailoring to appoint the first woman as a head cutter.

She is Kathryn Sargent, and she has just been promoted to the position at Gieves & Hawkes, the tailors who have been dressing English gentlemen — from the Duke of Wellington to the Prince of Wales, by way of David Niven and Noël Coward — since 1771.

At 35, Ms Sargent may have been born five years after her predecessor, Peter O’Neill, first worked on Savile Row; she may also be the only cutter on the Row to wear a big, heart-shaped ring of Swarovski crystal (“my bling”, she calls it). But to say that she is a woman with a feeling for tradition is an understatement.

She developed her interest in tailoring while studying fashion at Surrey Institute of Art and Design, and started collecting old-fashioned tailors’ instruction manuals. They include such volumes as The Modern Tailor, Outfitter and Clothier from 1928, a compendium of advice on the wearing and making of everything from court dress to military uniforms.

Among its gems is: “Plus fours and gay pullovers are out of place in the shop, office or counting house. In the City the black jacket suit is still considered correct, and in Throgmorton Street is often worn with a silk hat.”

Armed with such inspiration, Ms Sargent knew exactly what she wanted to do. “I have always liked men in suits; my dad used to get suits made in a local tailor. He even did the gardening in a suit.

“I was fortunate enough to get a work experience placement in Savile Row, and realised this was what I wanted to be a master of. It is all the tradition and the fact that we are still making clothes by the methods they were using in the early 1900s.”

Starting at Gieves & Hawkes in 1996 as a trimmer — the dogsbody, sorting out buttons and threads and the like for the tailors — she was not the only woman there. But she was the only one who wanted to be a cutter. “They said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ ” Persistence and enthusiasm paid off, and she rose through the ranks to become first an undercutter to Mr O’Neill — a man who can remember the days when head cutters could expect to be called Sir by their juniors — and then a cutter in her own right.

In 2008 she made the clothes for the coronation of the King of Tonga. “It was a huge order, 25 uniforms,” she said. “He was a real gentleman, as you would expect with a king.”

Sexism among her colleagues may be a thing of the past, but what about customers? Do they not expect a man to be measuring their inside leg? “Sometimes they are a little surprised,” she said. “But hopefully, my professionalism proves I can do the job.”

THE TIMES, January 14th 2010

]]> http://www.handembroidery.com/2010/01/savile-row%e2%80%99s-first-wardrobe-mistress-has-the-measure-of-tradition-and-inside-legs/feed/ 0 http://www.handembroidery.com/2010/01/cupids-collection/ http://www.handembroidery.com/2010/01/cupids-collection/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:03:11 +0000 nathalie http://www.handembroidery.com/?p=2291 Once again, Hand & Lock is featured in Lifestyle Men’s Magazine: GQ. In its latest February issue, GQ presents a large selection of Valentine’s gift ideas for Her.

10. Hand & Lock. Looking for the perfect touch for Valentine’s Day, why not personalise your gift with the finest embroidered monogram? Hand 7 Lock offers a large range of hand embroidery services that will turn your idea into a unique gift, like “GQ” logo pictured here. To book an appointment and discuss your designs call them on 020 7580 7488 or visit their website www.handembroidery.com

For all your Valentine’s enquiry please contact Sana via email sana@handembroidery.com or by phone +44(0)207 580 7488