House of Nutter

February 15, 2018
An expose of the underrated designer who helped shape 20th-century European aesthetics.In his debut work of nonfiction, Australian journalist Richardson explores the life of Tommy Nutter (1943-1992), the British designer who contributed greatly to the unique fashion sense of 1960s England. Mapping out Nutter's life from beginning to end, the author capitalizes on the moments in his subject's life that caused significant ripples in society. "His life vividly personalized forty years of critical gay history," writes Richardson. "From the underground queer clubs of Soho to the unbridled freedom of New York bathhouses to the terrifying nightmare of AIDS--Tommy was there, both witness and participant." It's as if Nutter had his pulse on nearly every significant moment of the era. After enrolling at a technical college, Nutter quickly started identifying aesthetic deficiencies in culture; three years later he began working his first tailoring job. What followed was a series of interactions with some of the biggest names of the time: John Lennon and the rest of the Beatles, Yoko Ono, Elton John, David Hockney, Andy Warhol, and many others. His cuts were intricately detailed, progressively modern, and inclusive. Refreshingly, Richardson has created a work that is surprisingly unpretentious; the author looks at Nutter's life with impressive objectivity, zeroing in on significant episodes and leaving the rest on the cutting-room floor. The author also gives close attention to Tommy's relationship with his brother, David, providing plenty of room for the telling of both brothers' lives and experiences. "David adored all this flagrant insolence," writes Richardson. "While hardly a hippie himself, he appreciated anything that agitated for a more open-minded conversation by treating alternative lifestyles as legitimate sources of joy." Such were the Nutter brothers: insatiably open to the world and its opportunities and able to systematically make a splash along their way.An exciting addition to fashion history.

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March 19, 2018
Journalist Richardson transports readers to the colorful days of postwar London in this dual portrait of brothers Tommy and David Nutter, the former a legendary fashion designer who died of AIDS in 1992, the latter a rock music photographer. Born and raised in north London, Tommy began his career in bespoke tailoring as a teenager in 1960 before opening his own shop, Nutters of Savile Row, in 1969. Tommy’s relationship with Beatles manager Brian Epstein’s assistant put David in the right place at the right time to photograph the wedding of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, which essentially launched David’s career. He goes on to photograph Mick Jagger, tour with Elton John, and befriend Michael Jackson. Richardson provides a fascinating look into the process of Savile Row tailoring in the 1960s, a history lesson on the fashion influences of King Edward VII (and the later “Teddy Boys” of the 1950s), and a glimpse of underground queer subculture of the 1950s where the Nutters found a community. His descriptions of Tommy’s designs are eloquent and vivid (Tommy’s suits are called “neo-Edwardian dandyism”), and are accompanied by 170 photographs that capture the fashion spirit of the age, many of them taken by brother David. Richardson’s affection for his subjects is touching and establishes a tone of admiration, and while this results in occasionally glossing over the Nutters’ faults (there are bewilderingly brief references to Tommy’s “episodes of operatic drama”), his enthusiasm is contagious.