Phoebe Gormley changed the dynamics of Sevile Row in London when she founded a women’s only tailoring company on an exclusive men’s tailoring street. Sevile Row is an exclusive shopping street for men who desire tailored made clothes. Gormley sent shock waves in the fashion industry in London 2015 when she started her own, exclusive women’s tailoring company: Gormley and Gamble.
Gormley’s love for fashion stemmed back to her youth when her father was going to throw out some old suits and she took them instead. She cut them apart and created clothes for herself from them. She was proud of her work and realized how much she enjoyed sewing. After discovering this newfound love for fashion, she interned at Sevile Row and Jermyn Street, gaining experience tailoring clothes at high end stores.
Gormley pursued fashion studies in college, but quickly became bored and decided to drop out of school and start her own company. Her marketing plan was word of mouth and that gained her the recognition she needed to get the support and publicity from other CEOs to make it onto Sevile Row. Instead of being just a tailor, she is now a tailor and CEO of a woman’s only tailoring company. What sets her apart is not just the fact that she is breaking the gender and cultural norms of Sevile Row, but the fact that she uses quality materials to quickly create customized suits and attire. She sends all measurements to a factory in the Czech Republic which is against the norm of handmade suits on Sevile Row. Gormley explains that women prefer the clean, perfected sewing of a machine for half the cost and timely completion instead of the lengthy process of sewing by hand.
Gormley inspires me to break social norms and look outside of the box. She saw a problem and took action. She went from being an interning tailor to a successful CEO of clothing company. She honed in on her passion and took her determination to get to great heights of success in the fashion industry.
https://www.gormleyandgamble.com/
I love this idea! Founding an exclusively women’s clothing store in the middle of many primarily men’s clothing stores is so brave! It must have taken a lot of determination to begin that journey. I wonder how much backlash Gormley received after she opened her store. Great post!