New book traces Savile Row tailor Andrew Ramroop's Indian roots

A new biography aims to set the record straight about one of Savile Row's most celebrated tailors. Andrew Ramroop, the owner of the famed tailoring house Maurice Sedwell, is often described as Black. While true in terms of his appearance, his ancestral heritage is Indian, a fact he rarely corrected publicly.

The book, titled Bespoken: From Tunapuna to Buckingham Palace, was written by former civil servant Ashok Kumar Bal and launched in Delhi on Saturday. It chronicles Ramroop's journey from a life of poverty in Trinidad to becoming the tailor of choice for figures like cricketer Brian Lara and actor Samuel L Jackson.

Ramroop, who has been identified as Black in media reports and even on his company's website, said he never felt the need to correct the narrative. He regarded the description as referring to his colour, not his ethnicity. The book, he believes, offers a permanent and important platform to clarify his heritage, unlike a fleeting media interview.

The project began serendipitously when Bal, needing a suit in early 2023, noticed a certificate from the Savile Row Bespoke Academy bearing Ramroop's signature at a Mumbai shop. This sparked a deep dive into Ramroop's past, uncovering a family history that began with his great-grandparents, Luchmin and Bhairo Prasad, who left India in 1889 as indentured labourers for Trinidad.

Bal's persistence, including 36 emails, eventually convinced the private tailor to cooperate. Ramroop was particularly keen to correct the perception among Africans and African Americans that his heritage was African.

Born Madan Ramroop in Tunapuna, Trinidad, he was baptised Andrew at age nine. He knew his calling at 11, left school at 14, and apprenticed under a local tailor who first told him of the mythical Savile Row. Arriving in London in 1970 at 17, he faced prejudice but persevered, eventually joining Maurice Sedwell and buying the company in 1988, becoming the first person of colour to own a business on the street.

Ramroop is credited with pioneering 'ultra bespoke', a philosophy he trademarked in 2008, the same year he received an OBE. He insists on being called a tailor, not a designer, arguing that a tailor's skill is what brings a design to life. His own suit, stitched in 2002, is a testament to his belief that true tailoring outlasts fashion trends.