The woman who can transform the way you see your body
She’s the Savile Row supremo whose power suits have high-flyers crying with gratitude. Here, DAISY KNATCHBULL reveals why this season’s must-have works for ANY woman — so long as you follow her style secrets...
Her exquisitely cut suits are worn with rakish style by the likes of Gillian Anderson, Suranne Jones and elle Macpherson, her customers range in age from 16 to 92, and after less than four years in business she helms the only women’s tailoring shopfront on Savile row.
Yet when Daisy Knatchbull started The Deck in early 2019, she had no idea that just a few months later the idea of wearing formal tailoring would seem positively outlandish. As the world decamped from office to sofa, donned sweatpants and slippers and embraced elasticated waistbands during the Covid lockdowns, she might have been forgiven for having
a wobble or two. Instead, even as the fashion world declared suits dead and
formalwear over, she doubled down, moved her atelier from Chelsea to Savile Row, and became determined to help women of every size and shape desperate for the structure, style and power that a well-made suit bestows.
And a glance around the high street and up and down red carpets right now proves how right she was to persevere. Slinky or curvy, brightly coloured or chic black, and with an attitude as nonchalant as Yves Saint Laurent’s 1966 Le Smoking and Tom Ford’s lean velvet numbers for Gucci in 1996, no garment is more potent than a beautifully cut trousersuit — and it’s having its biggest moment in years.
In fact, she says, she never had a doubt about the potential for her big idea. ‘I may have been overly confident,’ she admits wryly. ‘But I know who my customer is. People will always want to dress up — and I’m not talking about ballgowns.’
Although I ask about her many celebrity clients, she would rather talk about the ordinary women she dresses every day. ‘Gillian, Suranne — those
women are amazing, of course, and we want everyone to feel like that: powerful, sexy, understated women. But I don’t want it to ever feel unachievable.
The reality is most women don’t look like that. Our clients are just normal people who want to look and feel beautiful, and we can do that for them.’
And beyond the refined designs, this is the great secret of The Deck’s success: the ability to make any woman, whatever her personal body hang-ups, look and feel fabulous through the power of brilliant tailoring.
It’s a trick that men have understood for generations, of course. Those lucky enough to frequent a tailor will know just how transformative a touch of shoulder wadding here or a waist tuck there can be.
BuTwhile, even on the high street, men can choose leg length, waist size, chest size and collar size at a minimum, the fitting options for women are absurdly limited. You could be 5ft 2in or 6ft 1in and still be expected to fit the average size 14 suit. Knatchbull wants to change that.
Many women, she says, look in the mirror and don’t like what they see.
They go shopping and feel terrible because they can’t find things that fit.
And they certainly don’t believe a suit is going to work with their body shape.
Having their clothes tailored by a woman, who understands the body issues and changes women experience, can be life-changing, says Knatchbull.
‘ Women have a very complex emotional relationship with clothing, and the lumps and bumps we want to
disguise and the parts we want to enhance.
But they can have what they want. You think you don’t have a waist? Yes, you do. You think you can’t wear trousers because your bum is too flat, or a double-breasted jacket because your boobs are too big? It’s a myth.
‘What I love about this process is saying: “No, you’re just wearing clothes that don’t fit you.” We have women crying in front of the mirror when they see themselves looking amazing at the end of the process.’
It’s a lovely thought — but with a price tag starting at £2,500 for a
suit, she appreciates this isn’t an experience for everyone.
Still, a great suit, even if it’s not the Savile Row experience, remains an excellent investment, she says, suggesting seeking out good quality vintage pieces that can be tailored by a local seamstress.
‘Look out for something that sits well on the hips, the bust and the shoulders — anything else can be tailored to fit nicely,’ she says.
The same goes for high street pieces where you might find getting the right fit for your hips or bust means smothering slimmer areas, with a baggy waistband or boxy shape — until you can get it taken in.
Strongly against the principle of throwaway fast fashion, Knatchbull is an advocate for sustainability.
‘We use natural fibres. All the raw materials are cut by length to avoid bulk buying and holding stock. I hate that “sustainable” is such a
buzzword, but it’s the way our business has been from the beginning, and that comes at a price.’
Daisy’s focus on planet-positive fashion helped inform her fearlessness through Covid: she saw people move away from faddish trends towards clothes with longevity, durability and versatility. And those are undeniably characteristics of a good suit.
‘Sure, fewer people are going to invest lots of money into a ballgown. But it’s being diverted to smarter purchases,’ she says.
‘Our customers can buy one good suit, but they’ll have a minimum of five different ways to wear it, together and as separates. They can take their kids to school, then go to a black-tie dinner in it, go on
a country walk or a pub lunch. It’s about making it a core look that lasts, with only a few key bits in
your wardrobe to support it — a good T-shirt, a white shirt, a pair of heels and some trainers.’
And a suit’s not just for one season or one year, it can be for life. ‘We do free repairs for life,’ she says. ‘We put enough inlays into the suit that you can wear it year
after year — because we know no woman is the same shape for the rest of her life.’
But while she might largely eschew trends — quoting Coco Chanel’s epigram ‘Mode [fashion] passes, style remains’ — there’s no denying the trousersuit is bang on
trend right now, starring in high street stores from Arket to Zara.
This is great news for grown-ups — a trousersuit can totally transform how any woman looks and feels.
‘Honestly, the first time I ever had a suit made, I felt like I could literally put my feet up on a boardroom table,’ says Knatchbull. ‘It gives you that feeling of being invincible. And once you’ve got the bug, it can be really addictive.’
The Deck has four core suits (which is why it’s named after a deck of cards), made up of singlebreasted, double-breasted, safari and boyfriend jackets; and cigarette-leg, straight-leg, wide-leg and flat-leg trousers — all designed
with the help of a female Savile Row pattern-cutter.
‘Then it’s your choice of cloth,
lining, buttons, monograms, all done to your body measurements — and as many pockets as you want!’
Making the most of those shapes comes down to understanding what works on your body, because while a talented tailor can make a busty figure look lean or short legs endless, there are still useful guidelines for those of us shopping on the high street.
‘We work a lot with optical illusion. So, for example, the high- waisted trouser is a beautiful thing, and you want to end it at the smallest part of your waist to give length to
the leg. And if you have the jacket sitting below the crotch, you’re lengthening the body and legs together.
‘Then, for instance, on a single-breasted jacket we often suggest a one-button front with pockets slanted upwards, drawing the eye into the centre of your body and making it appear longer and slimmer.’
Knatchbull’s team are happy to rework old suits — in fact, she’s had several young women bring in their grandads’ old suits for alterations — and there’s no reason why your local seamstress
shouldn’t be able to play with the pockets or pull in the waistband on an old suit, or even a not-quite-perfect one from the high street.
On a cost-per-wear basis, the perfect made-to-measure suit can be a rewarding lifetime investment that works out at excellent value.
But it’s reassuring to know that, for those of us who don’t have a Savile Row budget, a few great tips on cut and fabric and some clever styling can transform a suit from the high street or charity shop — or even revive a piece from your own wardrobe.