OUR TEAM

Michael

Store Manager, 35 Savile Row

"You just feel different wearing Sexton. It's in the lapel and the shoulder. It's something special that allows you permission to play out all your alter egos simultaneously."

Edward Sexton’s immutable link to music Heritage and the arts remains undisputed. It is embedded within every stitch, every lapel, and every garment that leaves our bespoke workshop and is always at the forefront of our design process within our ready to wear collections.

With that in mind, we are embarking on a series of interviews with our team here on Savile Row documenting their personal journey and relationship with music and generally taking a poke around their musical closet, skeletons and all!

Interview 01

We start with Michael, our store manager, sitting in our ready to wear / Made to measure store at No 35 Savile Row; the very same site the original store was opened by Tommy Nutter and Edward Sexton on Valentines day 1969. Michael is a proud Mancunian but he is quick to remind me after I announce this before we begin, that he in fact derives from Salford, which is different!

After reminiscing about his dads very fancy 6 CD muti disc changer which lay proudly in the boot of his even fancier BMW when he was younger, he talks about his early exposure to Motown and the proud history and music culture that resides from his native land, Manchester.

The Full Interview

Liam: What is your first memory of being exposed to music?

Michael: I would say my oldest memories are really listening to music in my dad's car, my dad had a real love for Motown music. He had one of those six CD changers in his car.

Liam: Six!? You grew up posh, mate, Six CDs in a car?

Michael: It was in the boot of the car. My dad used to organize his CDs by alphabetical order in the glovebox and he'd quite often change them out in his car. However, my own first ever purchase of a record was Michael Jackson’s Bad on cassette.

Liam: Not an awful first record I must say, we've had a few shockers arise during these interviews. Do any of those early influences still make it onto any of your current playlists?

“ Someone says to you, "Oh, you know, all the great music artists came from Liverpool," i'm like, "no, they didn't, they came from Manchester”

Michael: Listening to Motown so much early on and then also growing up in an urban environment, in my teenage years I was exposed to hip-hop, then it went to R&B and later on I spent a year living in New York so I was introduced to a lot of Jazz. As my tastes matured over the years I actually started to appreciate the early Motown influence even more in the knowledge that all those genres have an intrinsic thread linking them all to one and other. So, despite me not listening to Michael Jackson or Motown on a daily basis now, those early years did subconsciously affect my tastes and subsequently what I listen to today.

Liam: So do your listening choices at work differ from those in your own time and, having worked in retail stores for over 25 years, do you feel there are certain genres or songs that work better in such an environment than others?

Michael: Yeah, massively. So, I believe you can't really put too much of your own influence into a mix/playlist being played in a store because you need a certain level and a certain tempo to fit a store environment. Whereas in your leisure time, I suppose, you know, you can kind of switch between any genre of music that suits your mood in that particular moment.

Liam: So what kind of things are you queuing when choosing music for the store?

Yells from afar echo “Happy Mondays or oasis ye Lad !” Michael smiles wryly and continues…

Michael: See, I generally like quite an upbeat tempo, which could probably range from jazz, things like Nina Simone to a light house music-inspired tempo such as David Morales/Frankie Knuckles classic, “Where love lives”. I definitely respond better to higher BPM. I think coming from Manchester, and because I listened to more dance music and hung around in those circles, there were nights when we went to rock or indie nights, but it wasn't really my thing. But now, I'm more likely to listen and it's funny, whether it's just because it's Mancunian patriotism, but I do listen quite regularly to Stone Roses, Joy Division, you know, Happy Mondays…

Liam: Ye those bands are just an institution aren't they

Michael: Yes and it's the same with The Haçienda nightclub and that kind of dance electronica. I mean, the Liverpool-Manchester ... competition, as well. Not only football, but Industrial, but very much in the music. Someone says to you, "Oh, like, you know, all the great music artists came from Liverpool," I'm like, "No, they didn't, they came from Manchester” But I think, in terms of things like house music, it really landed in Manchester, and probably the most famous club was The Haçienda.

Liam: Did you ever go ?

Michael: No, it closed before my time, but it remains ardent within the culture that feeling that the working classes create the true culture within our society and that all youth subcultures sprout from them.

Liam: Before joining the team six months ago, were you aware of Edward Sexton's deep connection to Rock & Roll royalty, and do you still see that heritage and attitude reflected in the garments today?

Michael: Yes I think it goes hand in hand. It’s the drama and the edge that speaks to you through the cut I think. The roped shoulder and the belly of the lapel paired with a subtle flared trouser. Even those that don't consciously know what they are witnessing sense it. You just feel different wearing Sexton, it's something special that grants you permission to play out all your alter egos simultaneously.

Liam: Michael, thank you for your time and some very enlightening insights. As this is the last question, it feels apt to end with….

last song of the night choice?...

*Everyone in the store waits with baited breath for Michael’s answer*

Michael: I SAID MAYBE!!