Bespoke tailor Gareth Beckwith discusses his tailoring background and wealth of
experience in the industry. After studying Business, IT and Computing at school,
Gareth realised he didn’t enjoy it and began to work in retail. He worked at Principles
For Men in the suiting department and after enjoying this experience, he
subsequently ran shops for the last 15 years until setting up his own business- Crown
to Cuff, 12 months ago.He also talks about his work with legendary fashion designer
Jeff Banks. It was three years ago when Jeff approached Gareth to consult for him. At
the start of last year Gareth gained permission off Jeff to start up a new business,
using the name and brand of Jeff Banks.
“He’s very, very good. He gives me a lot of support, a lot of help, a lot of guidance and
has taken me under his wing somewhat. Things have to be better than perfect and if
they’re not he’ll tell you!”
Banks opened his first boutique- ‘Clobber’ in 1964 and has gone on to create his own fashion label, as well as introducing retail outlets in leading department stores such as Harrods and Harvey Nichols. Banks has also been the face for BBC’s ‘The Clothes Show’, where he presented over 320 episodes, often drawing in over 10 million viewers.
With Jeff on board, Gareth describes the tailoring opportunities that have been
created by the influence of Jeff Banks:“He opens up a lot of doors and puts me in the
right room, at the right place with the right person. Without his name behind me and
his confidence in what I do I would never be able to get anywhere with these people.”
Gareth revealed how past generations of his family were also master tailors- a fact
he only discovered 8 years into his tailoring career. He found out about his
grandfather’s tailoring history, in some of his old books. Gareth was then hit by
another astonishing revelation, when his mother explained that her grandfather was
also a master tailor.
“I opened the books up and there were pictures of jackets, trousers, shirts, line
drawings, “I had no idea I came from a line of tailors in the family.”Gareth explained
his feeling of pride when he discovered his family’s tailoring history:“It made me
really proud. I just thought you know what I love what I do, I didn’t get pushed into
what I did I made a choice to do it. Probably a little bit of fate pushed me in that
direction.
“I love what I do, I’ve got a lot of passion for what I do and I wouldn’t want to do
anything else.”