A man who has dressed the likes of Jay-Z and Lady Gaga has now created a replacement robe for the mayor of Carlisle and officially handed over the garment this week.
As well as creating the new robe Lee Paton, who runs the heritage-minded atelier Godener in Newbiggin near Brampton, restored the 45-year-original so it can be put on display in Carlisle’s Civic Centre.
Mr Paton, who has worked in London for around 20 years, moved back to Cumbria in 2021 after working in places including Savile Row.
During his career he has produced ceremonial pieces for the Royal Family, as well as working with a number of famous names including Jay-Z, Paloma Faith and Lady Gaga.
He said it was a fantastic opportunity to do something that he had always enjoyed and it was a combination of tailoring and ceremonial military goldwork embroidery.
Mr Paton said that when he first noticed that the Charter Trustees of the City of Carlisle were looking for a replacement robe, he jumped at the chance to be considered to carry out the work.
He said: “When I was appointed to take on the work, it was a pleasure to come in and collect the old one. And not just creating the new one but also working with the old one gave me a great appreciation for the project itself.”
Mr Paton said that initially carried out restoration work on the original garment which he measured down to the millimetre so he could draft a pattern from it before starting to work on the new one.
He added: “I was able to locate some of the original suppliers of the gold lace embroidered elements. I worked with them to recreate the gold lace which features on new robes.”
He said he was also able to contact Carlisle College because he wanted to involve fashion students in the project and added: “I went in and spent a few days with them, both training them in initial techniques, various techniques relating to the small embroidered rosettes that are embroidered with gold spangles, which is metal sequins, that are only three millimetres in diameter.
“We ended up embroidering thousands of those into tiny rosettes. They probably take good 15 to 20 minutes per rosette to make. The students’ patience was tested with something that was new. But it’s the pleasure also of teaching people heritage skills.”
He said that, comparing them side by side, the old robe was ready long ago for retirement and added: “It was definitely time for a new one to be produced.
“And, you know, the new one was made with the same skill and attention and care for another 50 years. So longevity was the aim of making the new one.”
During the handover, he was able to put the old robe on display in the Civic Centre and he said: “It’s holding itself together quite well, and we had to use some quite strict conservation techniques to be able to do that. It’s such an old fabric. It was shattering, and there’s no real way of saving that.”
Councillor Jeanette Whalen, the current mayor of Carlisle, said it was an absolute privilege to receive the new robe and added: “Considering the state of the previous one and we’ve had to do multiple repairs over the years. It’s become quite a patchwork quilt to be honest.”
She said it was good to also have guests from the college there to see the new robe and added: “It’ll be great for the future mayors of Carlisle to have a new robe and for it to last a long time. The old one’s been restored, so it can be put on display.
“It’s absolutely key to the history of Carlisle. People who come to the Civic Centre, who are going to be visiting the Mayor’s Parlour, they’ll be able to see it in its case.”
Wendy Oxley, the fashion and costume 3D lecturer at the college, said it had been a wonderful opportunity for the students to work collaboratively with Mr Paton and added: “I think it’s absolutely vital that the students work in the industry.”
She said they had gained hands on experience and learned beautiful embroidery techniques using real gold.
She added: “What a treat. Just recognising that actually they are good enough for Lee to put that in the hands of the students was just amazing.”
