Sewing Bee Star Patrick Grant on his start in the rag trade

Transcript

00:00I went to university twice. The first time I studied material science and engineering at

00:04Leeds and the second time I studied for a master's in business administration at Oxford.

00:09When I was young, I was really sporty. I was into sport and I was really into fashion. It

00:13was an odd combination. The Scotland rugby team, I was a big fan of rugby. And then

00:16designers when I was young, Vivienne Westwood, Jean-Paul Gaultier, they were the ones when I

00:20was young that were really hot tickets. I started my career on Savile Row very late. I was in my

00:25early 30s. I worked as the undercutter and I did all the kind of trimmings, cutting, striking,

00:30all that kind of stuff in the workshop. And I loved it. Savile Row was a place to me that was

00:35three amazing things. It was amazing clothes, amazing craft and amazing stories and histories.

00:40If I had to have a career defining moment, I think it would be winning the British Fashion

00:46Award for menswear. I beat Paul Smith and Burberry and Margaret Howell and was astonished. It was

00:53amazing day. Now I am motivated by, I think more than anything, trying to preserve the great

01:00skills and craftsmanship and actually all the amazing jobs that we have here in the UK in our

01:05textile and clothing sector. I run a business that is all about making great clothes, but more

01:11importantly, preserving and actually creating lots and lots of really good jobs. So that is what

01:17motivates me most.