The Strangest Coincidence You'll Know

I am about to tell you the strangest coincidence you'll ever know.

 

Something you'd only read in a novel. And I'm actually hesitant to say it. You might think I'm trying to suggest something that I'm not. But it's a fact I learned on Savile Row and I can't deny it. So here it goes:

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Once Upon a Time in Tehran

I was born in Tehran, Iran on 17th of August 1992 at 1:15 p.m. Remember this date. It's linked to our mysterious coincidence. But let me give you some context first before you think I'm crazy.

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My parents were creatives; my mom a graphic designer and my dad an oil painter. We fled Iran in 2000 and went to the Netherlands.

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Sleeping in Stables

Along with twenty strangers, we went to Bosnia. And from there we walked to Italy. We slept in stables and only walked at night. Pitch black forests. Nothing to see.

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We taped our shins with duct tape. A snake bite meant death. Some made spears in fear of wolves. All we ate were grapes and peppers that our smuggler would steal from nearby farms. The cold nights of October had no mercy on us.

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The Refugee Camp

Once in the Netherlands, I entered a refugee camp at the age of nine and left when I was sixteen. There I met my partner Mowgli, with whom I started Akeilā. I became a Dutch citizen, and began my higher education. I studied game, sound, and graphic design, then film making and animation.

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A Young Messenger

In 2014, I met a fellow Iranian who introduced me to his tailor in Iran. That tailor, who had no teeth and could only talk about pigeons with his flapping lips, made me a jacket that could gaslight a CIA spy.

 

It was so expertly bad, I thought my body was disfigured! And with anger and curiosity, I decided to make myself a new jacket. How hard can it be? A month later, in September 2014, I moved to London.

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No. 12 Savile Row

Two weeks after my arrival, I began working as an intern at Chittleborough & Morgan. I planned for Huntsman, but it was not meant to be. This brings us closer to that coincidence I mentioned. There I spent five years as a full-time apprentice tailor. But I also did the social media and looked after clients when Joe (Morgan) was away. 

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"We are Boring Tailors"

For some reason, I got the impression that Joe wanted innovation, creativity and leadership. I wanted to believe that we were "the innovators of Savile Row". Even though he kept saying "we are just boring old tailors", I never took that line seriously. Because he kept talking about novel things such as Camps de Luca's Tear-Drop pocket or some special canvas construction. And I saw all of those as innuendos for "show me what you're made of".

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The Cat in the Canvas

So in the spirit of innovation, creativity and leadership, I began to take initiative; instead of padding the canvasses with white basting thread, I began using colours. I listened to what clients said about themselves and used that as a theme for their padding. The first one I did was a cat. And slowly, others began to use colours and themes as well. I set a new standard. Joe did not object.

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​One day I heard him talk about concave shoulders and none of the tailors managed to get it right. All the shoulders they made would end up as straight. I used my daily train journeys to figure it out and I did.

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Another day I heard a client say to Michael Brown (who worked there at the time), that C&M should have its own special pocket. And instantly, I took that as my que and began working on a series of designs.
 

Never Outshine the Master

My hunger for innovation and novelty blinded me for the truth; C&M was not a tech company. I was not supposed to be an innovator. It was merely tolerated. I was supposed to be a worker and do what I'm told... And so after my fifth year, I got fired!