The best advice Hattie Glendenning has ever been given? “Write down everything you love and circle what’s similar,” says the founder of HAX Tailoring. “It’s a mind map exercise my dad used to do with me when I was a kid – that’s how you’ll find the thread between them.”
That “thread,” as it turns out, would reveal itself in more ways than she could have imagined.
When you think of the founder of a bespoke and made-to-order tailoring company, Hattie is a welcome surprise. She’s warm, charismatic, and disarmingly down-to-earth – a sharp contrast to the often intimidating atmosphere of traditional tailoring houses. Her personal style alone makes you want to stop buying new altogether (a core ethos behind why she started the company, to work with and extend the life of the clothing you already have). She’s always wearing something she’s made herself, often finished with a printed neckerchief and her signature long, bohemian blonde hair tumbling over her shoulders.
It makes sense, then, that Hattie grew up surrounded by heritage and craftsmanship. Her father worked across British luxury industries – first in wine, then in menswear. So she was raised with an understanding of quality: that clothing is made to last; to be mended and handed down, rather than discarded. You don’t throw them away. You fix them.
At just sixteen, Hattie began working Saturdays at a tailor’s shop on Savile Row, London’s historic home of bespoke suiting. The street has long been a rite of passage for fashion’s elite, counting names such as Alexander McQueen and Ozwald Boateng among its alumni. But for Hattie, she wasn’t just drawn to the fashion mythology of Savile Row – but the experience of creating something truly bespoke.
“As soon as I walked in, I was obsessed – with the way these men bought their clothes, how they were meticulously measured and the whole experience of choosing your cloth,” she tells me, seated in the sun-filled fitting room of HAX. (There, she’s in good company – her atelier is tucked on the third floor of an old townhouse on Clifford Street, neighbouring the renowned fabric merchant Dugdale Bros & Co.) “It felt old-school, but the craftsmanship was incredible. More than that, it was about the service: a space where someone could bring their ideas and personality and have them translated into an item of clothing.”
But this early exposure also revealed something else: the stark exclusivity of tailoring. “I was shocked at the prices: spending thousands of pounds on anything is a lot of money. And at the time, there wasn’t much that was accessible for women,” she says. “So when I was 16, I told my dad that I wanted to start something, and we came up with the name ‘HAX’.”
“I knew I couldn’t start a business back then, I needed more experience,” she says. But the name stuck. “I felt like it would be bad luck to change it. We spoke about it for years,” she recalls. So she kept HAX in mind as she spent years working across a range of start-ups, refining her knowledge of brand-building and customer experience before circling back to the idea that first sparked everything. “About two years ago, I reached a point where I felt like I knew enough. And in all that time, I still hadn’t seen anything like what I envisioned. No one was offering the kind of service I would want to use myself. So I just thought, I’ll try and do it on my own.”
HAX today feels like a world where anything is possible, and at its heart is Hattie: effortlessly cool and relaxed, but steadfast on pushing an industry long reserved for the elite into a more inclusive, modern space. Now, with HAX growing steadily month by month, we are eager to learn more about the way she works...
I’M NOT FROM THE TRADITIONAL WORLD OF TAILORING... I’m not a trained tailor. Which meant I deal with imposter syndrome a lot. I started this business from a different angle, as someone who loves fashion and styling. I saw a gap, a need for something different. At first, that made me feel like I had no right to be doing it. But what really helped was the response I got early on.
I WASN’T A GREAT STUDENT AT SCHOOL... I wish I could say I was cool and rebellious, but I wasn’t naughty – I just didn’t thrive in that environment. From a really young age, I knew I wasn’t going to uni and wanted to leave school as soon as I could. And my parents were fine with that. They never pushed me to do more, academically. I had the space to figure out what I actually wanted. At school, I remember people being naturally good at certain things, and that just kind of pushed them into A-levels or uni. But I just thought, I don’t know what I want to do, and I’m pretty sure it’s not in this school world. It’s probably in the real world. That way of thinking helped me early on.
AT HAX, WE DON’T FOLLOW THE RULES... We didn’t start with menswear and moved into womenswear, or the other way around. We’ve always been unisex, which is definitely unique around here! It’s a safe, comfortable environment. We’re not saying, “You must have lapels,” or any of those traditional rules. We’re trying to push those boundaries and normalise custom clothing.
CLOTHING IS LIKE ARMOUR... People should feel comfortable in what they wear. Even at our lower price point, custom tailoring still feels like a luxury. For women especially, as we are all such different shapes and sizes, it’s a really special thing.
NO TWO DAYS ARE THE SAME... Excuse the cliché, but it really varies. Usually, I’m either in fittings or consultations for most of the day, or I’m running around – picking things up, dropping things off. Now that I’ve got India, my right-hand, on board, it’s much easier to manage. But we’re still doing it all: the intern, the delivery person, the packer, the steamer, the founder: everything rolled into one.
I DO THINK IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE, BEING A WOMAN IN THIS SPACE... I’ve spoken to lots of men about whether they’d prefer to be measured by a man or a woman, and most say a woman – it feels less like a power dynamic, there’s no ego involved.
THIS JOB HAS TO START WITH CONVERSATION... Why are they here? Is it for an occasion? I get to spend time with so many different characters, and I try to understand the type of person they are. I love people, so fittings are honestly the best part of the job.
It’s about making them feel at ease from the moment they arrive, just making it feel like a chat. The style part usually comes after that. Fittings are so personal – you’re up close with someone, so if I’m relaxed, they’ll feel relaxed, too. I’ve seen so many tailoring situations where that’s not the case.
THEN, MY PROCESS BEGINS WITH THE CLOTH... I’ll usually start by talking through weight. A lot of people come in for specific occasions – let’s say, a wedding in Spain in July – so that narrows things down right away. Then when it comes to design, structure, or personal touches, I rely a lot on observation. I think I’ve got a good eye for picking up on someone’s style quickly, even if they’re just in jeans and a T-shirt. It might be their jewellery, sunglasses, or even the way they’ve tucked in their shirt. I’ll ask them questions, too: do they like structure, or something slouchier? From there, I can start to think about how to bring their personal style into something that might typically feel more formal.
COMFORT IS MY ABSOLUTE NUMBER ONE... If I’m not comfortable, I’m just grumpy. My own style is androgynous – I guess it’s somewhere between military and hippie, but it really varies. Some days I want to wear heels and feel like a power-suit woman, other days it’s trainers and pyjamas. Though I’ll always wear a suit, or some variation of one, with the colour and shape depending on my mood. Some days, if I’m tired or not feeling super confident, I’ll wear something more structured and polished; it helps. Most of my suits are comfy, like wearing pyjamas, though. It’s not really about dressing for my mood – it’s more like dressing out of it.
MY IDEAL WORKING ENVIRONMENT... Is being around lots of people. I have to be honest, I’m 99.99% sure I’ve got ADHD. I often think I can listen to music, but then I realise I’ve just been staring at the wall for 15 minutes. But my sister recently sent me this app called Endel, it’s basically soundscapes for different moods. There’s a focus one, a sleep one, and so on. It’s like white noise and it really helps me concentrate. I’m trying to train myself to use that more. I like having moments to dip in and out, where I can focus but also get distracted.
MY MOOD BOARDS ARE CHAOTIC... They’ve got cars, leather handbags, mugs... I also love old-school tv shows like Columbo, a murder mystery show from the 1970s. The suits in it are amazing, they’ve got really unusual details I haven’t seen since. I’m always sending screenshots to my team like, “Let’s do this!” And I love military structure, it’s just so beautiful. I think it’s about finding that perfect-imperfect balance. Like the precision of military tailoring paired with a slouchy leather bag. Or a T-shirt that’s full of holes – I love that kind of contrast. I guess what my mood boards have in common is me: my way of creating this slightly chaotic world with some formality woven into it.
I NEVER WANTED TO HAVE A HOUSE STYLE... Most places do – like Edward Sexton has that signature strong shoulder and wide lapel. Others might focus on a certain shape at the waist, or a specific shoulder line – and people buy into that. But I was very clear on not having one from the start. That’s why we don’t even keep stock or sample garments in the studio. What you see here is either a client’s order or something from my own wardrobe.
I want people to come in and be inspired by themselves, by mood boards, or ideas they’ve been sitting with. That said, I have noticed a trend. People do come in, see something we’ve made, and say, “I love that.” So there are influences. But the boundaries are open, you don’t have to stick to anything.
MY ADVICE TO WOMEN TAILORS: JUST DO IT... There’s room for us all, and we’re all in it together. I really hope that as women, or just people in the industry, we continue to support each other. Some of my best pals are in this world, and we’ll share clients – send them each other’s way. So yes, go for it. Be confident and trust your gut.
Yes, there’s Savile Row, but there’s tailoring needed beyond that ,too. I’m really lucky to be based in Mayfair, but I have clients who would never normally set foot on Savile Row. Maybe it doesn’t fit their style, or they want a more relaxed experience, or their budget doesn’t stretch to that. So, if you want to be on the Row, amazing, go for it. We need more women there, it’s an industry largely run by men, for men. But if not, set up shop wherever you are. People will always need tailoring. Give it a go, you’ll smash it.
