Andrew Ramroop

Speaker 10:01

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

Presenter0:05

Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast. Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were castaway to a desert island. And, for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.

Presenter0:44

My castaway this week is the master tailor Andrew Ramrop. His career has been defined by elegance and excellence. He was the first black tailor on Saville Row and the first tailor in its history to be awarded an OBE. As a student at the London College of Fashion, he completed his course so quickly and with such flair that his alma mater created the category Diploma of Distinction especially for him. His principal recommended him for a job with the tailor Maurice Sedwell. Initially in the back room, he went on to buy the business. In 2008 he founded the Saville Row Academy to ensure the skills of his trade were passed on to the next generation. He was named Black Business Person of the Year in 2017 and although his client list remains confidential, we do know that it spans around 60 countries and has included Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Curtis and Diana Princess of Wales. He describes his upbringing in Trinidad and Tobago as humble, although he adored clothes, making his first pair of trousers from a pillowcase when he was just nine. As a teenager, he was apprenticed to a tailor in Port of Spain. His 14-hour workdays offered plenty of opportunity to absorb his boss's colourful stories about London's golden mile of tailoring. He had found his destination. He says, I didn't sail to England or to Europe. I sailed to Saville Row. I wanted to be in the Olympics of tailoring. Andrew Ramrop, welcome to Desert Island Discs.

Andrew Ramroop2:13

Thank you for your invitation, I'm very happy to be here.

Presenter2:15

So let's start, Andrew, with Saville Row, then. It is the epitome of world-class tailoring. What is it that makes it so special?

Andrew Ramroop2:22

What makes Sabelro very special is his tradition, its history, it's the pinnacle of Sartreal excellence.

Presenter2:29

Now this is Radio Theatre of the Mind, Andrew. So I'm here to tell our listener that you are looking obviously incredibly dapper for our interview today. Is that your own work, that beautiful pinstripe suit that you're wearing?

Andrew Ramroop2:38

Is that your

Andrew Ramroop2:41

I plead guilty for designing and making this. I actually commissioned this cloth. We mentioned earlier Samuel Jackson. Sam Jackson and I have exactly the same suit.

Presenter2:51

Is that like a pink stripe? A little bit of some

Andrew Ramroop2:53

It's almost future stroke pink bouquet design. So it's not a clean pinstripe, slightly broken stripes on a very dark blue background.

Presenter3:03

I thought initially that that was a ring on your little finger of your uh left hand, but it's actually a thimble.

Andrew Ramroop3:10

It's in my pinky finger that I it actually lives there or more than ninety per cent of the garments that we make.

Andrew Ramroop3:17

are still made by hand. And that's very, very important to me, because our tradition is handcraft tail ring. You know, we cut and fit in harmony with body shapes for style, for elegance, for comfort. If you consider we're taking what is something that's essentially flat and creating sculpture, creating a three-dimensional form with it, that it actually fits around a body. It's sartoreal art.

Presenter3:42

Well, with all that in mind, Andrew, I think we'd better dive into your first disc. What are we going to hear?

Andrew Ramroop3:47

I am very, very proud of my background and there's so many stories in Calypso's. They're love stories. They're actually political. It's a narration of our life in Trinidad and challenges sometimes and what we're proud of. And so the first of my choices is a Calypso. I'm pleased to say it's a portrait of my country, Trinidad and Tobago.

Speaker 44:16

Training that is my land and of it I am proud and glad But I can't understand why some people are so bad But I know all of them we running them out Don't know what they're talking about They will paint your black everyday And they write things they will never say Like our sportsmen Being rated among the best Our scholars have sit and pass every day

Speaker 14:35

See you right?

Speaker 14:38

Nightball

Presenter4:45

Port of Trinidad by Mighty Sniper. Let's go back to the beginning then. You're born in 1952 in a village called Mango in Trinidad, one of five children. Your parents also had aspirations for all of you to do well. That was the culture in the family. Did they emphasize the importance of working hard, presumably, but also the importance of presenting yourself well and putting your best face forward?

Andrew Ramroop5:10

Their view was that the pathway to success is becoming academically attained.

Andrew Ramroop5:18

I rejected that.

Andrew Ramroop5:20

because I just did not want to go to school, partly because the school teachers weren't very kind to us. We came from the hills and we weren't expected to amount to anything in life. And so they never paid us much attention. And at that time,

Speaker 15:28

Yeah.

Speaker 45:28

Smack.

Andrew Ramroop5:37

Teachers really caned you for not doing very much wrong, you know.

Presenter5:41

I heard that you got your own back on one of the teachers who

Andrew Ramroop5:44

Oh yeah.

Presenter5:44

inflicted a corporal punishment on you, what happened?

Andrew Ramroop5:47

This teacher had a leather belt and he had names for all of the belts. And after being spanked by this teacher, I went into his desk. It was one of those desks, you can lift up the top of the desk, and he had all his stuff there. The leather belt was named Charlo. Just where he got the name from, I don't know. But it was written in pen at the rough part of the belt. It was written Charlo. And I took Charlo away and I put it inside my shirt. continued my Sunday school, which is meant to be very, very Christian. Continued my Sunday school. Now we had an outside toilet. Everyone had outside toilets. I mean, and I went down and almost ceremoniously dropped Charlo into the toilet holder.

Presenter6:30

Yeah.

Presenter6:32

Good for you.

Andrew Ramroop6:33

Yeah.

Presenter6:33

That's exactly where he belonged. Well, we've got to make some time for the music, Andrew. It's time for your second disc today. What's it going to be and why are you taking it to your desert island?

Andrew Ramroop6:42

Pink Floyd's Another Break in the Wall because of my belief.

Andrew Ramroop6:49

That

Andrew Ramroop6:51

Academic attainment, certainly high academic attainment, does not necessarily prepare you for success in life.

Andrew Ramroop7:00

And I love the beat. It's fantastic. It speaks to me.

Speaker 47:04

We don't need no education.

Speaker 47:23

No dark sarcasm in the classroom.

Speaker 47:32

Teacher lead their way

Presenter7:35

Pink Floyd and Another Brick in the Wall. Andrew Ramroop, tell me then about the first time that you created something out of fabric.

Andrew Ramroop7:44

I remember it so clearly. My mother reminded me that I was about nine years old when I cut up her pillowcase and made myself what we call back home pants. We had no electricity, but we had one of those hand sewing machines. And I sewed the outside leg, I sewed the inside leg, and I proudly called my mother and showed her what I did. The pillowcase that we had and all our curtains was made out of flower bags. And one side of the bag wasn't printed. It was white. And the other side of the bag had, it was red, what's called red roses flower. And it had a big red roses sign and the other side was all printed. I could see the picture of it now. I really, really wanted to leave school and go and do an apprenticeship in learning to make shirts and learning to make pants.

Presenter8:35

Well, and that's what happened. At thirteen, you left school, you were apprenticed to a local tailor, making trousers. What were the first few weeks like? Do you remember?

Andrew Ramroop8:44

I left school in July, and before the new term started, parents were ordering trousers, short khaki pants for their kids to go to school, and I was making short khaki pants for kids to go to school when school opened in early September.

Andrew Ramroop8:59

I was earning a lot for the steel that I learned to make trousers with.

Andrew Ramroop9:05

I was ambitious enough to want to learn to make jackets, and he wouldn't teach me.

Andrew Ramroop9:11

There was a tailor in the town.

Andrew Ramroop9:14

who always saw me coming and going, and eventually one day he offered me an apprenticeship to learn to make jackets, without any discussion. I said yes. I went home, I told mummy.

Andrew Ramroop9:26

Mommy called a stealer and said, you know, he's got this opportunity to learn to make jackets. Will you teach him?

Andrew Ramroop9:33

and he said I wasn't ready.

Andrew Ramroop9:35

because I was earning him a pretty handsome amount at that time, and I wasn't getting paid.

Presenter9:41

So he was taking the money for the the pieces you were making. Indeed. Yeah.

Andrew Ramroop9:44

Indeed.

Andrew Ramroop9:45

I had just one day at that tailor learning to make jackets because this trousers tailor got himself inebriated and went and quarreled with this tailor about taking his worker. And so the following day when I went in, this tailor said told me what happened last night and he said, I'm afraid you can't come back here because I run a very respectable business. I can't have this happening. So at age 14 I was unemployed. Mommy went back to the trouser tailor and said, will you take him back? And he said, no. Not only did he say no, he said, I'll see to it that he does not get any further in this trade.

Presenter10:22

Let's take a break for some music. What are we going to hear next, Andrew?

Andrew Ramroop10:25

My mother

Andrew Ramroop10:27

used to play me a song by Jimmy Cliff, Time Will Tell. And uh she used to go to different priests at different so many different churches.

Andrew Ramroop10:41

And she would come home and say to me,

Andrew Ramroop10:46

Never mind.

Andrew Ramroop10:48

One day.

Andrew Ramroop10:50

things would be better.

Speaker 410:59

I will tell Final Prepare.

Speaker 411:08

When I was just a little boy, only six years old I asked my daddy what he thinks my future

Speaker 411:19

He's that sound when you'll grow up to be a man.

Presenter11:25

Jimmy Cliff and time will tell. So Andrew Ramry, you saved up enough money, I think it was £900 in 1972 for a one-way ticket to Southampton and you had done that after getting another place with a tailor in Port of Spain. By the time you got the money together, you were 17 years old. You'd taken in your boss's colourful stories about life on the golden mile of tailoring. What were your dreams at that stage?

Andrew Ramroop11:53

It was probably an unrealistic dream.

Andrew Ramroop11:57

and I sailed to Southampton not knowing anybody.

Presenter12:01

What a step to take at just seventeen years old. You'd grown up without large, loving family, four siblings. Leaving them behind must have been such a wrench. I can see it on your face even as I'm talking about it. It was very difficult.

Andrew Ramroop12:17

evoking memories that I thought.

Andrew Ramroop12:21

that I'd managed to be able

Andrew Ramroop12:25

to deal with.

Andrew Ramroop12:28

I had not been further from Mango Village to Border Spain. I didn't even go to the island Tobago. I'd never been in a boat, and here I am sailing four thousand miles away.

Andrew Ramroop12:46

I

Andrew Ramroop12:49

Really, um

Andrew Ramroop12:52

Just came, just

Andrew Ramroop12:54

did what I did without really giving it much thought.

Andrew Ramroop12:58

you know. It is that I want it to be where

Andrew Ramroop13:02

The pinnacle of sartreal excellence was practised, and I wanted to be amongst the finest.

Presenter13:08

Yeah. What was it like leaving your parents? It must have been very tough.

Andrew Ramroop13:11

It was very, very difficult leaving my family.

Andrew Ramroop13:15

I was probably the second person that ever left the village, and so there was a huge fanfare.

Andrew Ramroop13:23

Here I am.

Andrew Ramroop13:25

with so many people to see me off in the docks of Puerto Spey, waiting for the boat.

Andrew Ramroop13:33

They didn't turn up.

Andrew Ramroop13:35

And so my parents said to me, Oh, you wait here just in case the boat does turn up.

Andrew Ramroop13:40

and everyone left.

Andrew Ramroop13:44

Daddy had to go back to work, mummy had to go home to cook, everyone else that came to see me off had left, and I waited and waited and waited, and dressed in a suit that I made.

Andrew Ramroop13:56

It was a really, really smart olive green suit with a subtle burgundy check with the inverted pleat at the back, inverted pleat and the cuff. If you can imagine the old docks building with just exposed rafters waiting for the boat to arrive. Waited for hours. One hour went by, two hours, three, four, five hours went by. It's now beginning to get dark.

Andrew Ramroop14:24

and then a small boat arrived.

Andrew Ramroop14:27

There will take no more than about 10, 15 people. And is this a boat that's going to take me to England? I was shocked.

Andrew Ramroop14:35

And it turned out that the the boat that I was meant to sail on, the Northern Star, wouldn't pay

Andrew Ramroop14:43

the docking fee to come into Trinidad waters, so they stayed out of Trinidad waters and they hired a small boat.

Andrew Ramroop14:50

to take the eight passengers who was going to go on the boat.

Andrew Ramroop14:54

When I actually stepped on the boat, then my family came. So I was literally on the boat when my family came to see me off. That was pretty tough.

Andrew Ramroop15:05

And we're sailing out into the darkness and got to the the side of the boat, and you can imagine it was like going up sixty feet up, or it must be I don't know how high it was. It seems it was a huge sky and it was a narrow ladder sort of to go up to the side of the boat. That's where the trepidation came in.

Presenter15:25

So you're climbing that in your lovely suit that you've made.

Andrew Ramroop15:28

In my suit.

Presenter15:28

With one of the suit in your hand luggage, I think.

Andrew Ramroop15:30

One other suit in my hand luggage, a small blue case that my father had bought me, two pairs of pajamas, and I had a shirt in there. Um the only shoes pair of shoes I had was a pair of shoes that I was wearing and the socks I was wearing. I wasn't prepared at all.

Andrew Ramroop15:48

I found myself in on that boat and into Southampton and navigated my way to I think it was Waterloo from Southampton. And then there were some arrangements made for me to get to North London. Got to North London into an attic room and I navigated my way on at that time it was Piccadilly Line. I found my way to Saville Row.

Presenter16:16

Well, Andrew, we'll find out what happened next in a moment. First, though, I've got to hear some more music. It's number four today. What's it going to be?

Andrew Ramroop16:24

It's gonna be Simon and Garfunkel, the boxer.

Andrew Ramroop16:27

The box is very much to a large extent, I came here at the age seventeen. It's an autobiographical account of my journey and my life here in the early days in London.

Speaker 416:40

I am just a poor boy, though my story is seldom told. I have squandered my resistance for a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises.

Speaker 416:54

All lies and chest till the man hears what he wants to hear And this regards the rescue.

Presenter17:08

Simon and Godfunkel and the boxer. So Andrew Ramrop, tell me then about your first attempts to get a job on Savil Row. You dreamed of working there for years. What was the reality that that met you when you first knocked on that door?

Andrew Ramroop17:24

James Bond Sean Connery had his suits made at Anthony Sinclair.

Andrew Ramroop17:30

Even though Anthony Sinclair was not on Saville Row, he was on Conduit Street, which is obliquely opposite Saville Row.

Andrew Ramroop17:38

I wanted to work at James Barnes Taylor.

Andrew Ramroop17:40

He had a a card up in the window, Taylor wanted.

Andrew Ramroop17:44

I went in.

Andrew Ramroop17:45

We said yes, you can start on Monday.

Andrew Ramroop17:48

He liked the suit I was wearing and the one I took with me. I said I had made them. I started on Monday and almost exactly the same thing happened the one day that I actually spent at the tailor learning to make jackets, because another guy saw the card in the window and he came in the day I started at Anthony Sinclair.

Presenter18:08

So you'd be nervous.

Andrew Ramroop18:08

For the same job.

Presenter18:09

So you'd been there twenty minutes or something? Yeah. Yeah.

Andrew Ramroop18:11

Yeah. I'd only just started, I'd got my board where I'm going to be working and so on. Now this guy came in while I was waiting for mister Sinclair to show me where my workstation was.

Andrew Ramroop18:24

Twenty minutes later he came up to me and said, Um have you used an iron like this? And I said, No, I haven't. But you know, you plug it in and the damn thing gets hot, right?

Andrew Ramroop18:34

And he said, Well, if you haven't used an iron like this, I'm afraid you can't work here. It was a lame excuse to get rid of me and give this other person the job.

Andrew Ramroop18:45

I think he probably didn't have any confidence in me and this person. He was preferred.

Andrew Ramroop18:51

Anthony Sinclair did me a huge favor by firing me after twenty minutes, because.

Andrew Ramroop18:58

He called up one of his other friends, and then he called over to Huntsman, which was literally across the road, the most famous tailors in the world.

Speaker 419:04

The most famous tales in

Andrew Ramroop19:08

I went over to Huntsman.

Andrew Ramroop19:11

By ten thirty I had another job, at the most famous tailors on Saville Road and in the world.

Andrew Ramroop19:18

I got a job at Huntspon.

Presenter19:19

After a while working at Huntsman, you saved up enough to start a degree at the London College of Fashion. You obviously had no family money behind you. How did you get the funds together? How hard were you working?

Andrew Ramroop19:33

I had a job at Huntsman and it was at 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Andrew Ramroop19:38

and it was Monday to Friday.

Andrew Ramroop19:41

What am I going to do with Saturdays and Sundays?

Andrew Ramroop19:44

So I got a job on the King's Road.

Andrew Ramroop19:46

Chelsea. Now I is getting paid twelve pounds a week at Huntsman.

Andrew Ramroop19:50

On the King's Road I was getting paid six pounds on a Saturday.

Andrew Ramroop19:54

It is flared trousers with velvet suits. It was very, very tight on the thighs, tight under waist, no pleats at the top, pergola shoulders, rope ground sleeves, snug fitting. Oh my goodness, it was beautiful. And here I am working on the King's Road, getting involved with all of these garments. It was really, really exciting.

Presenter20:15

Time for more music, I think, Andrew Ramro. What are we going to hear next and why?

Andrew Ramroop20:19

I saw James Brown perform. It was the first time I'd seen I think it's called strobe lighting, where's the flashing light and looks as though he's dancing in slow motion. My goodness, this was super impressive.

Andrew Ramroop20:31

and I saw James Brown performing.

Andrew Ramroop20:35

at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park. So I could not do this programme without having James Brown. It's a man's world.

Speaker 420:45

Come in! My

Speaker 420:50

This is a man's world

Speaker 420:56

But it wouldn't be nothing.

Speaker 420:59

Nothing

Speaker 421:02

But that

Speaker 421:03

A woman on that

Speaker 421:10

You see!

Presenter21:13

Man make a car!

Presenter21:16

James Brown and It's a Man's World. So, Andrew Ramroop, you graduated from the London College of Fashion. You managed to complete your degree in just two years instead of the usual three, and you were ready to take Savilrow by storm. What happened next? How hard was it to find a job?

Andrew Ramroop21:34

I could not get a job at the front of a shop.

Andrew Ramroop21:38

And this is where probably the act of racism came in, but I did not recognize it. I just felt that I wasn't suitable. So I didn't take umbrage at being turned down. But one boss said our customers would not take kindly to a foreigner.

Andrew Ramroop21:54

But if you wanted a job in the back room, we can take you.

Andrew Ramroop21:59

And I had at least eleven appointments in in really the the top tailors. No one would give me a job at the front of a shop. And so I was determined to get to the front.

Andrew Ramroop22:09

Eight graduates coming out of the London College of Fashion. The world's your oyster. There's competition to take you.

Andrew Ramroop22:17

But not me.

Andrew Ramroop22:20

Finally.

Andrew Ramroop22:22

mister Sedwell.

Andrew Ramroop22:24

called up to college and asked if they had any graduates. And I got a four week trial at Maurice Sedwell. And after a couple of weeks mister Sedwell said to me,

Andrew Ramroop22:37

Don't bother about a trial, you got a job.

Presenter22:39

So tell me about Maurice Saidwell then. You described the man as a very clever East Ender. What was the relationship between the two of you like?

Andrew Ramroop22:48

I guess somewhere along the line I became the son he never had. One of the reasons I think that he gave me the opportunity that he did was that he had um been in the navy.

Andrew Ramroop23:01

He had travelled the world, he had been open to other cultures, he was a lot more open minded.

Andrew Ramroop23:08

Than the owners of shops on Sapphire.

Presenter23:11

So, Andrew, tell me about getting to the front of the shop then. You made it, obviously. How did it happen?

Andrew Ramroop23:17

I was actually doing all the alterations in this sort of like very narrow space that we have, it was almost like a corridor. And I said to mister Sedwell, look,

Andrew Ramroop23:26

We've got so much alterations to do.

Andrew Ramroop23:29

Why can't I have a look at the fittings?

Andrew Ramroop23:32

So that at least I could possibly have an input.

Andrew Ramroop23:36

and we'll have less alterations. And he said, Yes, you can come.

Andrew Ramroop23:41

But you stand by the door and look on, you don't get involved. That's what I did. I stood up at the door, I looked at the fittings, and I would make my comments afterwards.

Presenter23:49

And that process, what you're describing there, is what's known in the trade as rock of eye, isn't it?

Andrew Ramroop23:55

Its rock of eye is a natural talent.

Andrew Ramroop23:59

An ability

Andrew Ramroop24:01

to recognize the difference between good and perfect.

Presenter24:04

All right, let's have some more music, Andrew. Number six, what are we going to hear next and why have you chosen it?

Andrew Ramroop24:10

You know, I was brought up as a Christian.

Andrew Ramroop24:12

It was fire and brimstone.

Andrew Ramroop24:15

So, when I had the opportunity to make my own decisions when I came to England.

Andrew Ramroop24:20

I didn't want to go to church any more.

Andrew Ramroop24:23

But the upbringing that I had and the values that my parents taught me

Andrew Ramroop24:28

I had heard of Les Crane, a D J.

Andrew Ramroop24:33

who had recorded a poem.

Andrew Ramroop24:36

Called Desiderata. And when I heard it, it really, really impressed me. And I used it as my

Andrew Ramroop24:43

Bible in Inverted Commas to navigate my own life.

Speaker 424:48

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

Speaker 424:57

As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant. They too have their story.

Speaker 425:15

Avoid loud and aggressive personal

Presenter25:17

Les Crane, performing Max Ehrman's poem Desiderata. Andrew Ramry, when Maurice Sedwell retired in nineteen eighty eight, you bought the business from him, but you kept his name above the door. Why?

Andrew Ramroop25:29

A tribute to mister Maurice Sedwell.

Andrew Ramroop25:33

He had given me a four week trial.

Andrew Ramroop25:35

And for me, it is to have Maurice Sedwell live on longer than I will live on. I'm going to live till one hundred and twenty. I mean, it's official. But I would certainly want Maurice Sedwell to go on for longer than another fifty years, certainly.

Presenter25:45

But uh

Presenter25:52

I need to ask about your customers. Now, obviously, the relationship between tailor and client is a very particular kind of intimacy, and for many tailors on the road, discretion is particularly important. But we do know about a few of your clients. And one of the most famous was Princess Diana. You made a few suits and jackets for her, including the jacket that she wore when she was interviewed for Panorama. Were you aware that she was going to wear one of your pieces for the occasion?

Andrew Ramroop26:20

I wasn't aware. On the all of the photographs and even on television it looks as though it's black.

Andrew Ramroop26:25

It isn't black. It's midnight blue. It's pure cashmere. Of course it had to be pure cashmere or silk. I've made Princess of Wales, I made her at least eight suits. And I had I think three in progress when she passed away. One was half-made, one was completely made and the other one wasn't cut yet.

Presenter26:46

What's it like to design for someone who is so famously stylish? I mean, does that bring extra pressure with it?

Andrew Ramroop26:54

You submit three designs.

Andrew Ramroop26:56

You don't want have too many choices, swatches and designs, and then a selection is made of the one or all three, and you get on with it. It was very much um keeping it uh confidential from everyone, even keeping confidential from staff, confidential from your own family.

Andrew Ramroop27:14

Because you you sworn to secrecy.

Presenter27:18

It's time for disc number seven, Andrew. What are we going to hear next and why are you taking it with you to your island today?

Andrew Ramroop27:24

Neil Achman is the godfather of my son that I've named after myself Andrew Madden Ramroop, Junior Neil's

Andrew Ramroop27:34

Performances are phenomenal. He's also from Trinidad and Maria La O is a song of chosen because it's it's an operatic piece and you would not associate opera with the West Indies, and most certainly not Trinidad, the birth of Steelpan and Calypso.

Andrew Ramroop27:54

However, the Latin American influence and the Spanish influence in the Caribbean is very prevalent during and after the war. And you will get this song, those who were inebriated will be singing this song in the rum shops. And so this is the principal reason, apart from the very, very close relationship I've got with Neil Latchman and our background and so on, I think this is a fantastic piece to take to the island with me.

Speaker 428:23

Moolah Twenty five.

Speaker 428:26

Is to feed a caboor And there is a guarantee bongor.

Speaker 128:30

Where is

Speaker 128:31

Ah

Speaker 128:59

Oh yeah.

Speaker 129:05

There we are.

Speaker 429:08

Yeah, Ponso

Speaker 429:11

They were little fiend, and it was who spoke.

Presenter29:17

Maria Lao by Ernest Lequona, sung by your friend Neil Latchman with Cody Green on the piano.

Presenter29:23

Andrew, a lot of your work today is about teaching the next generation of tailors and to that end you established the Saville Row Academy in 2008.

Andrew Ramroop29:32

I started the Saville Row Academy because getting an apprenticeship in Savile Row is like trying to win the lottery without a ticket. It was really challenging. I opened the doors on the eighth of january, two thousand eight, with six students who could not get apprenticeships.

Andrew Ramroop29:51

And one of the six was a former student at London College of Fashion.

Andrew Ramroop29:56

actually still works for me. And today I've taught all over the world and I've taught students from 15 countries. And on our last count it was uh I think 311 tailors and but I haven't counted for a long time. It was 311 tailors we trained.

Presenter30:13

And you must see them go on to to work in the industry. Are are many of them still on the road?

Andrew Ramroop30:19

There are a number of them that are working in and around Savile Rohan and the rest of the world and it's a very very difficult competition, the golden shares to win, but we won the golden shares on three occasions and in the last competitions every two years we won both the golden shares, the first and the second prize.

Presenter30:39

Andrew, it's time for your final choice to take with you to the island. What's it going to be?

Andrew Ramroop30:45

My sons

Andrew Ramroop30:46

They

Andrew Ramroop30:48

have given me a lease of life.

Andrew Ramroop30:52

That I am looking forward so much.

Andrew Ramroop30:56

to be engaged with their growing up, to be a part of their life with Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water. This song speaks so much about parenting, about challenging, about relationships. It raises all of those questions. If you've got someone there that you can feel confident, that you can approach, to have a conversation with about your emotions, about how you feel what's going on with your life. That is of paramount importance to encourage, to inspire, to motivate. And this is why I've chosen Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Speaker 431:44

Feeling small

Speaker 431:48

When tears are in your eyes

Speaker 431:56

I will drive them off.

Speaker 432:04

On your side.

Speaker 432:10

Uh

Presenter32:10

Yeah.

Speaker 432:11

Uh

Presenter32:13

Simon and Garfunkel Bridge over troubled water. So, Andrew Ramrobe, it's time to cast you away to the island. What sort of island are you hoping for?

Andrew Ramroop32:22

Well, I'm hoping it'll be palm trees. I say palm trees, but I really mean coconut trees so I can have uh fresh coconut water to drink every day. Surrounded by turquoise waters. I think it's going to be totally idyllic.

Andrew Ramroop32:36

Um

Presenter32:37

Another journey on which you're setting out full of optimism and hope. This is good to hear. So let's get you there then. I'll give you the Bible to take with you, the complete works of Shakespeare. You can also choose one other book. What would you like?

Andrew Ramroop32:50

Wallace's Infinite Jest.

Andrew Ramroop32:53

Is my choice a book?

Presenter32:55

Infinite Jest, okay, it's yours. You can also have a luxury item to make life a bit more bearable. What would you like?

Andrew Ramroop33:03

Do you know, I have always, always wanted.

Andrew Ramroop33:07

To learn

Andrew Ramroop33:10

Deploy the steel pan

Andrew Ramroop33:12

I grew up

Andrew Ramroop33:14

With Stilpan music all around me.

Andrew Ramroop33:18

The height of luxury for me is having a steel pan and uh teaching myself to play the steel pan. But I want a soprano tenor steel pan, which is the lead pan, the one at the front.

Presenter33:28

Which is delete

Presenter33:30

Oh, absolutely. It's yours. I mean, it's going to be perfect on this island that you've conjured up. I feel like I'm there already.

Presenter33:36

Finally, Andrew, which one disc of the eight that you've chosen to take with you today would you rush to save from the waves if you needed to?

Andrew Ramroop33:45

That's a really, really difficult one, but it's also a simple one for me to select.

Andrew Ramroop33:52

It is bridge over troubled water.

Presenter33:56

Andrew Ramroop, thank you very much for letting us hear your Desert Island discs.

Andrew Ramroop34:00

It has been my enormous pleasure.

Presenter34:25

Hello, I hope Andrew's happy on his island and that his steel pan drumming is coming on a treat. There are more than 2,000 programmes in our archive, which you can listen to. Ian Fleming wrote that James Bond got his suits made on Savile Row, and Ian was interviewed by Roy Plumley back in 1963. Just nine minutes survive of his programme, but you can find it in our archive, along with the complete Desert Island discs of former James Bond actor Roger Moore.

Presenter34:52

The studio manager for today's programme was Jackie Marjoram and the producer was Sarah Taylor. Next time, my guest will be Kate Hewitt Biggs of the British Council. I do hope you'll join us.

Speaker 135:22

Hi, I'm Andy Oliver and I'd like to tell you all about my Radio 4 series One Dish.

Speaker 135:29

It's all about why you love that one dish, the one that you could eat over and over again without ever getting tired of it.

Speaker 135:38

Each week a very special guest will bring their favourite food to my table and will be unpacking the history of it. And food psychologist Kimberly Wilson is on hand to talk us through the science bit.

Speaker 135:50

What food reminds you of your child? What's your favourite place to go for dinner? What do you have for Sunday lunch? What's your favourite dessert? You say plant 10 or plant 10? What food would you take with you to a desert island? What's your favourite type of chili oil? What do you have for breakfast? What's the best past? What's the one thing you look for? So if you're the sort of person who's already planning what you're having for lunch while you're eating breakfast, then this podcast is going to be right up your street.

Speaker 136:13

That's One Dish with Me Andy Oliver. Listen now on BBC Sounds.