Designer Interview: Sinclair London

Sinclair London is a luxury fashion house that designs, manufacturers and sells fine tailoring and smart casual wear for the ambitious women of the world, female thought leaders and industry influencers. 

 

 

Defined by elegance and sophistication, Sinclair is different by designs. Our garments are crafted with attitude through the use of vibrant colours, sharp cuts and colour blocking to highlight a women’s true unique identity. We scrap the idea of creating collections by seasons and bring you a unique presentation of collections through the “Designer Edits”. Collections designed to suit the powerful women’s calendar of events. This, is the future of fashion as we see it. 

 

 

Founded by the first Savile Row trained tailor to launch a women’s only tailoring brand in 2013, Alicya Sinclair has been dubbed the next Giorgio Armani by former Vice President of Burberry and CEO of Harvey Nichols, Stacey Cartwright. 

 

 

She is an award-winning designer with her designs seen on the red carpet. In 2017, Sinclair dresses retro girl group “The Tootsie Rollers” for Royal Ascot who for have always performed to the Queen in the Royal Enclosure for the past 5 consecutive years. Alicya designed tailored suits for the girl group, which have never been done before. The following year for the first time ever, trouser suits for women became a suitable and acceptable attire for women to wear in the Royal Enclosure. 

 

 

As part of our sustainability promise to become a Positive Luxury brand we continue to take steps to become more transparent and sustainable. Last year we took our first step and invested in our operations and supply chain and proud that all of our garments are crafted in our very own micro factory with state of the art equipment in the heart of Battersea, London surrounded by the next luxury fashion complex – Battersea Power Station.

When and where did you first begin?
Oct 2013, We launched with a private fashion exhibition at a luxury golf club in Surrey. Drawing inspiration from all the garments that I had made through my experience. Including the wedding dress for Princess of Qatar, my career in luxury bridal and of course bespoke tailoring being trained on Savile Row by Princess Diana’s tailor.
 
 
Where does your design inspiration come from?
We scrapped the idea of creating collections seasons by season and focus on designing fashion edits which are practical and suitable for the busy women’s business calendar. Designing items with sharp cuts, which can be inspired by architecture, my travels or art. But items to suit both personal and professional events.
 
 
Describe your brand in 3 words.
Different by designs. 
 
 
What is the most difficult aspect of running your own label?
The most challenging is managing everything and learning how to let go and allow others to do their jobs. 
 
 
Which part of the creative process do you enjoy most, and least?
The most would be selecting fabrics for the new pieces, but overall would be the business development and liaising with clients and new business contacts to build relationships and harness partnerships. There is not really a part of the creative process I enjoy the least.
 
 
Do you have a mentor?
Yes several for different aspects of the business. I think it is important to have individuals who excel in their field, proven track record of success in different areas in business.
 
 
How long did your latest collection take to create?
The latest collection had to be ready within a week. We got the opportunity to showcase for London Fashion Week at the Mandrake Hotel and we have no new pieces. So we had 5 days to create a few new items and mix them in with 4 existing pieces – it was a very tight time frame.
 
 
What are your future plans?
Continue with our elevated brand projects & partnerships and start to explore more overseas opportunities. 
 
 
 
Which pieces do you think everyone should have in their wardrobe?
A tailored jumpsuit! I am a huge fan of jumpsuits and a tailored one can be styled up with heels or smart casual with trainers or espadrilles. The perfect combo.
 
 
What attracted you to The Clothing Lounge?
The Clothing Lounge has a sophisticated edge to it – its much more than an online store but it is a lifestyle and covers it all from health & wellness to travel and of course fashion.