Fashion: Back to bespoke

As tailoring returns, Stephanie Smith reports from the Owen Scott launch party. Pictures by Jonathan Gawthorpe.
Leeds shop manager Andrew Littlewood, left, and Scott Hufton, owner and founder of Owen Scott.Leeds shop manager Andrew Littlewood, left, and Scott Hufton, owner and founder of Owen Scott.
Leeds shop manager Andrew Littlewood, left, and Scott Hufton, owner and founder of Owen Scott.

David Beckham, Prince William, James Bond … these are just a few of the sharp dressers who are bringing the tailored suit right back into fashion.

“Tailoring is becoming more popular because a lot of celebrities are now wearing more tailored garments,” says Scott Hufton, owner of Owen Scott, which has just opened a new branch of its bespoke tailoring service in Central Arcade in Leeds.

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People are starting to realise that they want quality over quantity. People want to stick to their heritage and their roots, and, with us being in Leeds and Huddersfield, there’s no better place for us to publicise the Yorkshire cloth and the Yorkshire make.”

Leeds shop manager Andrew Littlewood, left, and Scott Hufton, owner and founder of Owen Scott.Leeds shop manager Andrew Littlewood, left, and Scott Hufton, owner and founder of Owen Scott.
Leeds shop manager Andrew Littlewood, left, and Scott Hufton, owner and founder of Owen Scott.

Scott, 33, opened his first Owen Scott showroom three years ago in his native Huddersfield. Married with three children, he named his tailoring business after himself and his son, Owen, who is now 14. He runs Owen Scott with Andrew Littlewood, 23, who is now manager of the Leeds shop.

Scott himself has been a tailor for 11 years. When he saw that the time was right to launch his own business, he wanted to offer “tailoring with a twist,” he says. “Something a bit different but high quality, and British heritage is huge at the moment.”

Most of the cloth comes from Huddersfield. Clients include solicitors, bankers, business people, mechanics, rugby and football players. Wedding suits are an important part of the business, too.

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Kevin Bristol, 34, a mechanic from Huddersfield, came to the launch party wearing his bespoke suit. “I don’t get to wear it that often but when I do I like to put them on. It’s a bit special , so I try not to wear it that much. I like to get it out every now and then and reassure myself that I’m still the same size.”

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Cloth manufacturers agree that the trend for tailoring is growing. Cloth supplier Ed Waterhouse, of Taylor & Lodge says: “There’s big revival in tailoring. It’s not as expensive as people think. Cloth is not as expensive as people think.”

Twitter: @yorkshirefashQ

Fashion assistant: Jasmine Pearson.

• Owen Scott is at Central Arcade in Leeds. Check out www.owenscott.co.uk.