That’s an interesting point. Do you feel as people of colour, we need to work harder to get the same opportunities?
Taj: Oh, yeah, hands down. I had this conversation with my wife and she asked me a question: ‘Do you work harder because you’re Asian?’ I am in no way under any pressure in terms of how hard I work; however, I do feel it among my peers.
And Chuksi, you got into this industry at 36. Did you find that quite difficult?
Chuksi: I was given the impression that it would be the case by a lot of people, but it wasn’t actually that bad. I made sure I really wanted to do it and went beneath the surface of tailoring before making the jump.
Is there a long way to go in terms of diversity for Savile Row?
Taj: At an ethnicity level, yeah. I was the appeals chairman this year for the Bespoke Tailors Benevolent Association and when you look around, you’re in a room among white British people. You’re at SRBA, you’re in a room full of white British people again — and also of an older age. So a 35-year-old Asian man from South London stepping into the room who’s a little bit rough around the edges, was a little bit of a culture shock for them. I would say Savile Row is ready for that ethnicity change, but it’s more of a case of having the applicants to do it.
I remember around 10 or so years ago when I was hiring for a design agency, 80 per cent or so of applicants for this particular role were white.
Taj: Yeah, your talent pool is basically white British people. Take representation organisation The Outsiders Perspective, for instance: the things they’re doing are very clever in terms of getting people of colour into medium, middle management and senior management roles. That’s how we’re going to get people into the industry, where they look at the best of the best of people of colour from the outset.
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More from this series:
Introducing Cut From AnOther Cloth
Cut From AnOther Cloth: Dhruva Chandramouli and Jenny Chim
Cut From AnOther Cloth: Nadia Alsagoff, Ji Hae An Sykes and Takudzwa Chigaduro
Cut From AnOther Cloth: Kouadio Amany and Marvin Diankenda
