Andrew Ramroop, A British Black First 1998
Andrew Ramroop arrived in Britain from Trinidad as a young man with a gift for the craft and a determination to master it properly.
His first position was at Huntsman, where he prepared first fittings. He was good at it. But Andrew wanted more than a position. He wanted a foundation. He left Huntsman to formalise his training at the London College of Fashion, and when he finished, he returned to Savile Row in search of work.
He found it at Maurice Sedwell, where he joined as an undercutter. He learned the business from the inside, from Maurice Sedwell himself. Over the years that followed, he became indispensable to the house, and in 1988 he purchased it, becoming the first person of colour to own a tailoring house on Savile Row.
In 1998, the BBC selected Andrew for its series Black Firsts, profiles of Black men and women who had broken new ground in British life. The programme aired on BBC Two on 26th July 1998. In June 2023, the BBC broadcast it again on BBC Four, a recognition that the story still mattered, and still does.
It is nine minutes long. It shows Andrew at work, at the cutting table, in the fitting room, on Savile Row. It is the best introduction to the man and the house that we know of.
