Saint Hill Couture is a story of soulmates; of two people who are stronger together, both personally and creatively. Saint Hill says his passion for Couture stems from his love of women, with his biggest inspiration being his professional and personal partner Britta von Basedow.

After a series of chance meetings, the pair combined their skills and ambitions, setting up Saint Hill Couture in 2001. Saint Hill believes it was fate that drew them to each other.

“I felt like there were some Gods moving us together,” he says.“It was remarkable how we were having this same quality fuelled, focussed direction.”

You need to be focussed when each garment is a labour of love, taking 100-150 hours to produce a suit and up to 1000 hours for an embellished evening dress. Each item is bespoke using the finest materials, attention to detail and personal design. Saint Hill says we live in a ‘microwaveable world’ but good things come to those who wait.
                 
The same is true for his path into the industry. As a 16 year old aspiring designer he relentlessly knocked on the doors of the capital’s couturiers until he was taken under the wing of the late Hachi. His star rose further when Princess Diana chose one of his designs for an evening dress and he hasn’t stopped since.

Britta is the technical arm of the partnership as a classically trained pattern maker and tailor and came to London from Germany to work on Saville Row at the age of 22.  Saint Hill says “Brita has the rare and highly talented skill of drafting a pattern from nothing.”

Making the shift from a creative mindset to a business one has been challenging for the pair but their passion and persistence has paid off and after a successful fashion show in Paris they are eagerly waiting to here if they have been granted the official stamp of Haute Couture.

For Saint Hill and Britta, Haute Couture is much more than a job; it is a passionate love affair, a belief system and a lifestyle.

“A master is when you can transform the ugliest person into making them look absolutely beautiful through colours, cut and fabrics – that is a genius.”

What is haute couture?
We do hand-stitching across and machine stitching vertically – that’s haute couture – you use luxurious fabrics and an abundance of highly skilled technicians putting it all together in a loving way.

We use the finest fabrics – it’s spiritual and organic and beautifully made – it’s a choice, a lifestyle. It’s the Cinderella syndrome, it’s the level of style, the colours, the textures – you look amazing, everyone’s looking at you and everything’s right about it – it’s made just for you.

Is haute couture a dying art?
There will always be a demand for luxury. People want couture now but it’s about waiting – it’s good to wait. It’s an appreciation instead of having something microwaveable – but right now we live in a microwave world. Waiting six months for a garment is a wait, but there’s something so special and beautiful about it.

Tell me about your background and where your passion for couture stemmed from.
I used to collect comics with my brother and draw around the super heroes and I became very inventive with the bat wings and so on. My brother encouraged me. But I soon switched to women’s garments and menswear became boring for me. Women seemed to be more in a fantasy world with the textures and colours.

My father died when I was 12 so I had a lot of influences brought up by my mother. In school people asked me if I was bi-sexual or gay but it wasn’t something that I’d even questioned, it wasn’t in my mind but I just loved the whole girly thing. Guys liked football and I liked messing around with the girls. Whatever they’d wear, I would think of how it would fit better. As captain of the athletics team, I didn’t get bullied because I defended myself but I used to wear tight leggings and boots, hats and do some really crazy things – I loved it.

When did you start designing?
Some people came to college and thought they were the next Yves Saint Laurent. I’ve been in the industry for 23 years and only now I’m about to step that bit further. It’s taken that amount of grounding to get somewhere. The French have the right attitude when they say, ‘I’ve worked for this and that person,’ – you’ll never see them coming straight out of college and all of a sudden they’re a designer, they’ve actually done some serious grafting. I’d rather come from a background where I’ve worked myself from the pins upwards.

How did you meet Britta?
I first saw Britta in Selfridges looking at some hats and thought she looked really nice so we started to chat and I told her I was a designer. I was very insecure at the time and had a lot of things going on in my life, out of that insecurity I wanted her to be my girlfriend immediately and she said, ‘No’. I even tried to kiss her and called her a couple of days later and she asked me not to call her.

Years later we crossed paths again on the tube. She spotted me with her big eyes and was smiling, she couldn’t remember who I was and I didn’t know who she was. We left the tube and I followed her blond bob. She was on her way to a dance class so I asked her if we could meet later and she agreed.

I told her I was a designer and she told me she was a patent cutter, we complimented each other and both knew each other’s field so we came together and started Saint Hill couture in April 2001. It’s been an up and down struggle, positive and negative, and things are going from strength to strength.