The hallowed halls of Savile Row, synonymous with impeccable British tailoring, are confronting a modern-day dilemma: clients are dramatically shrinking out of their bespoke suits due to the soaring popularity of weight loss injections.
Sean Dixon, co-founder of the renowned tailor Richard James, has revealed that his cutters are being forced to make significant alterations or even completely remake garments as male customers, typically in their 40s and 50s, shed substantial weight between fittings.
The Tailoring Conundrum
Mr Dixon explained that the bespoke process, which can take up to three months from initial measurement to final fitting, is being upended by this rapid physical transformation. ‘People are losing up to 25 kilograms in a relatively short space of time,’ he stated, highlighting the scale of the issue.
He emphasised that this isn't a matter of minor tweaks. ‘It’s not just half an inch here, maybe an inch there, it's a considerable amount of weight loss,’ Dixon said. ‘You can't just alter a suit - you have to remake it, start from scratch.’ This has massive repercussions for a craft built on precision and a perfect fit.
A Wider Cultural Shift
This trend extends beyond tailoring, influencing other sectors like fine dining. Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal recently announced he is slashing portion sizes at his flagship restaurant, The Fat Duck, to cater for diners whose appetites are suppressed by these same drugs.
Blumenthal, who takes Wegovy himself, is also creating a slimmed-down menu, acknowledging that ‘people are eating less and the quantities of food will put them off.’ He has even called for government intervention to help the British pub industry, which he sees facing a ‘really big’ threat from the drugs.
The impact is also being felt in homes across the UK. A poll by CheqUp found that more than a tenth of Britons expect to host someone on a GLP-1 medication this Christmas, with half reconsidering giving clothes as gifts due to new sensitivities around weight loss.
Risks and Celebrity Warnings
The popularity of these jabs, which include brands like Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy, is undeniable. Estimates suggest around 1.5 million people in the UK are now using GLP-1 receptor agonists, which work by reducing food cravings.
However, their use is not without controversy. The latest data from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has linked them to 173 reported deaths in the UK, alongside many more reports of side-effects such as headaches, vomiting, and diarrhoea. It is important to note that a report does not confirm the medicine was the cause.
Singer Robbie Williams has publicly voiced concerns, fearing that the Mounjaro jab is ‘making him blind’ after experiencing rapidly deteriorating and blurry vision. The 51-year-old star urged others to ‘research properly’ before starting similar injections.
Despite the challenges for his business, Sean Dixon views the underlying motivation for weight loss as a positive. ‘Male customers of ours are obviously taking these drugs and losing quite a lot of weight in the process - probably for health reasons, so it's a positive thing,’ he remarked. His company is now actively considering ways to adapt to this new reality without passing on extra costs to their clients.
