A Tale of Tailoring
Today’s blog is a tale of tailoring in Dublin. When I was in my final year in Fashion Design at NCAD I had the good luck to live in an apartment on Great Strand Street. At the time I loved the proximity of Temple Bar (how very early 2000’s of me)! I lived in a tiny apartment on the second floor. Great Strand Street is a very narrow street and I had a view which looked straight into the windows of several tailoring studios directly opposite to me. I used to watch one little man sew jackets and mold the shape of them with an iron every morning- it was a window into the old Dublin tailoring world.
And now this world which seemed like it was in decline in the early 2000’s is back. Great Strand Street and the surrounding area of Capel Street has had many links to tailoring in the past and is set to become Dublin’s Savile Row with Louis Copeland’s National Tailoring Academy which opened at number 8-9 Great Strand Street last year. Louis Copeland, the world renowned tailoring business, and Dublin favourite dates back to the 1900s when the founder Hyman Caplan a Lithuanian Jew (see his handsome face as my featured image) came to Dublin and set up shop. It’s now in the 4th generation of the same family, led by brothers, Louis and Adrian Copeland with their headquarters on Capel Street. A new enterprise has emerged for the Copelands as they set about educating 21st Century tailors.
When I heard about The National Tailoring Academy on Great Strand Street I understood the location and how appropriate it is for the new era of tailoring in Dublin. Course Director Sinead Doyle very kindly showed me around their wonderful light filled studios. Here’s our chat about the craft, the unique courses they run and a little about how they are shaping future of bespoke.
Ruaruth: How did the Tailoring Academy come into existence?
Sinead Doyle: Demand over the last number of years has been growing from students for internships with the Louis Copeland Master Tailors. As a result the managers at Copelands commissioned a study to see if there was need for a tailoring college and within a couple of years the National Tailoring Academy was born.
A sketch of a tailored jacket, the Louis Copeland trademark and spools of thread in the studio
Ruaruth: Tell me a little about your full time tailoring course?
Sinead Doyle: Our CPD diploma in Bespoke Fashion Tailoring (Level 7) is DIT accredited and deigned for fashion graduates or those working in the costume and garment industries who want to up-skill. It is delivered by Master Tailors and industry professionals in an authentic tailoring workshop environment and includes a site visit to an international bespoke manufacturing facility.
Ruaruth: I see there are part time courses people can sign-up to over the year, can you tell me a little more about these?
Sinead Doyle: We currently have over 16 part-time, evening, weekend and day long courses, mostly for those with experience who want to up-skill, but a couple suitable for beginners. They range from hand-stitched buttonhole masterclass, bespoke jacket making course and menswear pattern cutting. We also bring in outside specialists for masterclasses such as the milliner Mark T. Burke who will be running a two day workshop in November or Nora Finnegan, a lacemaker from Kenmare who will be running a lace making workshop, also in November.
A photo collage of images on the walls of The National Tailoring Academy showing the tailoring workshop in the Great Strand Street building from the 1970s.
Ruaruth: You have many connections with amazing tailoring companies across the globe from Brioni to Louis Vuitton, tell me about some of these connections?
Sinead Doyle: We frequently have visitors from international tailoring companies who are always impressed with the skills and expertise of our head tailor. We are very lucky to have Master Tailor Ciro Cuomo of Kiton judging our first scholarship award. These companies have also offered to take on students following graduation.
Ruaruth: Your external examiner is a female Savile Row tailor, which sounds so wonderful, tell me more about her role at the National Tailoring Academy?
Sinead Doyle: Kathryn Sargent was the first female head cutter on Savile Row (for Gieves and Hawkes) and currently runs her own bespoke studio. I read an interview with her a couple of years ago and when I was asked my top pick for external examiner, Kathryn came straight to mind. I was so excited when she agreed to be external examiner. Kathryn assesses the students technical work at the end of every semester and also has a quick chat with the students to offer advice and direction. So far we’re happy that she’s been very impressed!
See Deirdre McQuillan interview Kathryn Sargent on the National Tailoring Academy Youtube channel.
The National Tailoring Academy runs amazing part-time courses. I am fascinated by the Lace Making by Nora Finnegan of Kenmare course and Corsetry course, so expect another blog post on Irish Lace and Corsetry soon!
To find out more about all the courses at The National Tailoring Academy check out their website here.
