Tailor opens first rowing blazer shop after move

A TAILOR which is synonymous with Henley Royal Regatta has opened its first shop.

Collier & Robinson has moved into a two-storey premises in Greys Road, which used to be a branch of Lilly Dry Clean until that closed 18 months ago.

It had operated from a workshop at Henley Enterprise Park for 12 years until the lease ran out at the end of October.

The business is owned by chief executive Kristie Shemilt and her husband Mark, who live in Friday Street with their children Toby, 15, and twins Ottilie and Amelie, 13.

It specialises in hand-made rowing blazers and supplies more than 300 clubs around the world. It makes up to 60 blazers a week using only British materials.

Mrs Shemilt said: “I have always loved this particular shop front. The lighting is amazing with the huge windows and I think it is such a creative space being spread across two floors.

“With my lease running out, I needed to find somewhere else. I wasn’t looking to open a shop but decided this would be a great place to welcome customers.”

Mrs Shemilt was born in England but raised in South Africa and studied at the college of fashion design in Cape Town.

She remained there for a number of years working for a fashion house before returning to Britain in 1998.

She completed an evening course at the London College of Fashion Design before working as a British Airways air steward for two years.

Mrs Shemilt said: “I have always loved fashion and it was my dream to work as a buyer for Harrods.

“I studied putting garments together and I was scouted at the final university fashion show, where the students would showcase their best work, which featured tailored clothes, lingerie and cocktail wear.

“I was offered a job working for the award-winning Juanita Pacheco Boutique as an assistant designer before deciding to pursue my dream of fashion buying, so I moved back to the UK.

“Once I had arrived in London, I realised I had such a love for working among fabrics and materials while being able to meet customers, which wouldn’t have been possible if I had worked as a buyer.

“I took a short course in bridal wear and tailoring. I would design dresses and corsets and work with such intricate beading and detailing. The course was a great way to build up my contacts.”

Mrs Shemilt met her husband in 2000 at the regatta and later on, when they were on holiday in Bali, he suggested the idea of a blazer business.

The couple decided on a business name that combined Mr Shemilt’s mother’s maiden name, Collier, and his wife’s maiden name, Robinson, and got to work.

They started in March 2003, working from a flat in Reading Road for four years.

The couple began receiving orders, mainly from London clubs, but business grew through word of mouth and attracted new customers including Henley and Upper Thames rowing clubs, Shiplake College and the Oratory School in Woodcote.

Now Collier & Robinson makes blazers for clients across Europe and in America and Hong Kong.

Mrs Shemilt puts the success of the business down to the regatta, which she says helped blazers to grow in popularity.

She said: “Blazers are designed to keep the rowers warm while out on the water, a bit like a tracksuit jacket would with a slightly relaxed fit.

“Most importantly, the blazer differentiates teams by their colours.

“I now supply blazers to more than 300 clubs and we produce, on average, about 60 blazers to clubs across the globe, from Henley to Toowong Rowing Club in Australia.

“With all the blazers being handmade, one blazer can take up to six hours from start to finish, sometimes longer, and there are so many fine details to consider.

“For example, Newcastle Boat Club asked for a star emblem embroidered onto the front of their blazer breast pocket.

“We design an emblem with the team and then will digitise it for the embroidery machine, which works at around 990 repetitions (stitches) per minute.”

During the coronavirus pandemic last year, the demand for blazers slowed and with rowing events, including the royal regatta, being cancelled, production came to a halt as orders were shelved.

This coincided with the shortage of personal protective equipment in the NHS and Mrs Shemilt began receiving requests from friends and family to put her skills to good use and support care workers by making scrubs.

She recalled: “I was put in touch with the Royal Berkshire Hospital as they were lacking supplies and they wanted me to manufacture scrubs. In total, we made 840 sets for the hospital.

“I wanted to do this properly, so I crowdfunded the money and sourced volunteers through friends and social media.

“Originally my target was £8,500 but we exceeded this and raised £10,200 in total for the materials.

“We had curtain makers and bridal designers all working together to make the scrubs.

“Other individuals offered to do quality control, administration and deliveries of all the materials to the volunteers’ houses.

“It was brought to my attention that at the Royal Berks there were many surgery patients who were being denied surgery due to a shortage of surgical gowns.

“At the time, they only had enough gowns for two days’ worth of surgery and that was it.

“The gowns they did have at the time were of very low quality, many of which were being shipped from China full of holes and not fit for purpose.

“The hospital requested us to make the gowns if they provided donations towards the materials and volunteers.

“Phyllis Court Club, which was closed at the time, offered us a working space and we set up
production.

“In total, we created 7,000 surgical gowns, which lasted the hospital more than six months and meant that those who really needed surgery were able to have it.”