The Journal talks fit, fabric and finesse with Jermyn Street queen of shirtmaking, Emma Willis MBE.
“A man just needs three beautiful white shirts and three beautiful blue shirts,” explains Jermyn St shirtmaker, Emma Willis MBE, perching pixie-like on a rich red armchair in her elegantly appointed fitting room. “A mixture of button cuff and double cuff, so you have some formal shirts too,” she advises.
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| Emma Willis MBE |
It would be wise to heed her words, as although her shop’s decor is disarmingly soft, homely and dare-I-say-it, feminine – with flowers, candles, music and the like – the woman who operates in this space is the sharp and savvy queen of mens’ shirting.
The glamorous businesswoman is neatly kitted out in a fitting black dress and heels when we meet her (later suggesting that she only ever wears black – for smartness and ease of dressing) with not one blonde hair out of place. She tweaks and tidies the shirts, boxer shorts and ties to within an inch of their life, as we joke that perhaps she is something of a perfectionist.
It is this refined aesthetic sensibility and attention to even the most minute detail, that has led Emma Willis to become part of London’s elite, and very much male dominated, Jermyn St shirting scene – with a client based ranging from British aristocrats to Hollywood A-listers (Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Craig and Kenneth Branagh have all been in for fittings).
“I’d been in the business for ten years and had worked with most of the cutters on the street by the time I set up shop – so I had respect from the core of the bespoke world,” says Willis of the male-dominated world of Jermyn St.
So how did a young, somewhat rebellious, Willis, become an essential part of the British style establishment?
“I was selling clothes door to door to pay the rent, while singing in a band and pursuing my art,” she explains. “I took out the nice Jermyn Street style men’s shirts, made appointments with friends working in the City and found there was a good demand and they enjoyed ordering from their desks or boardrooms.”
The entrepreneurial youngster then set up a shirt business in London’s Ham Yard where she commissioned shirts from Turnbull & Asser’s Gloucester factory. She designed her own collection in situ before striking out on her own, transferring production to a bespoke shirt factory in New Cross. “The little shirt factory was made up of four extremely talented seamstresses and one cutter. With another shirt maker we took it over and that was when I dived into the world of shirt manufacturing,” she explains.
A few years later, things changed dramatically for Willis: “I had three children and I was going to have to either give it up or put down some roots and find help to run the business.” As fate would have it, a shop at the bespoke end of Jermyn St was up for rent, and Willis leapt on the opportunity.
Jermyn Street was very traditional in 2000 when the designer moved in, with her clients including the Dukes of Beaufort and Devonshire among others, but her time in the City led her to court a different market – that of the young financier. “I realised that with the advent of the hedge fund business arriving in St. James’s those seeking bespoke and being able to afford it was much younger than before,” she explains. “The hedge fund world breathed life and money into the whole area, attracting the fashion press as they realised British bespoke in Saville Row and Jermyn Street was now the aspiration of young men and enabling small bespoke businesses such as mine to grow.”
Clever positioning aside, an Emma Willis shirt is a work of art, and a sensible investment – the top end (giza 45) raw cottons hail from Egypt and the US, and are spun, yarn dyed and woven in an illustrious Swiss Mill, Alumo, before being carefully crafted into fabulous bespoke pieces at the company’s Gloucester factory (Willis has always made in Britain).
“When people ask why they should spend £200 - £250 on a shirt, I always give them the same answer,” explains the cotton connoisseur. “It’s like a bottle of wine – if you use quality materials and make it perfectly, it will get better with age. Our shirts last longer than others and get smoother with time.”
The fit of a bespoke shirt is also something that cannot be overrated. Willis and her team look at which style of collar suits the client best, whether they wear it open or not, and what weight of cotton will best suit their lifestyle. "Perfect fit is paramount. Customers are seeking a slimmer fit these days which takes more skill in the cutting.”
Of course if you’re after the perfect silhouette, our new Capra Slim Card Case would complete the look perfectly.
Although pieces are crafted as per the client’s wishes, the shop’s ready to wear collections changes with the seasons, with the Spring/Summer linen collection about to make an appearance. These shirts, and matching boxers, are washed in Aloe Vera for extra softness and come in ‘white, pink and many shades of blue’. “Many people wear linen for work in the summer,” explains Willis, “so, we need to have a structured collar that makes it different from a unstructured linen beach shirt.” Even Willis’s casual linens are very much a cut above.
An Emma Willis bespoke shirt is now a must have for any discerning gentleman, young or old, modern or traditional. Why not pair one with a wallet or card case from our new bespoke collection for carefully curated custom style?
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