Local firm that produces tailoring fit for a king

“Redmayne has made for knights before but it’s crucial that for such a historic occasion, we got this absolutely spot on. On the day of the coronation we were in our London office at 4am to ensure everything would go smoothly," says Claire, CEO of Redmayne 1860 bespoke tailors which she runs with her husband, Tom.

The medal in question was attached to a morning coat owned by Sir Jonathan Ive, former chief designer at Apple responsible for the iPhone, who is one of the few clients they are happy to name. The other is the King himself – Tom worked as the King’s cutter for many years. 

"We don’t advertise our clients, we are not that sort of business. There’s only one customer I talk about as it’s there on the internet. I was the King’s cutter for five years.  I resigned from that position because I left London to start my own business. It does make me smile though that The Telegraph named the then Prince Charles at his most stylish in the nineties… which, coincidentally, was when I was his cutter!’ says Tom.

The Redmayne firm opened its business in Wigton in 1868 and prides itself on its craftsmanship. This summer they had to close their order book as they couldn’t keep up with demand. To put it into perspective - Tom has had time to make his wife Claire just one bespoke suit in the 18 years they have known each other. He finished it this year.

Many customers fly over from the States and meet them at their Mayfair premises on St George Street. Many more prefer to travel to the Wigton premises, sometimes by private jet,  to see where their suits are crafted. “Clients say they feel they know our workshop because they have watched our social media. It’s lovely to have them as our guests,” Tom says.

“The USA has always been a strong market for our trade. Their access to bespoke tailoring is fairly limited, but the Americans are hungry for quality tailoring. If you look at how popular The Crown was in the US and Britishness overall… they want to enjoy traditional British heritage. If they are visiting they usually give us plenty of notice so we can prepare a fitting,” says Claire.

Their EU/UK market has increased in the past few years, despite Brexit, and Tom says they could do more business but they simply don’t have the capacity.  “If we are full, we are full,” he says.

Other clients are more local, people who have saved hard for a suit, tree surgeons, composers, farmers. They have made wedding suits for three generations of a local farming family and recently went along to help them dress for the event. “If they are wearing Redmayne we want people to feel confident knowing they are wearing the best,” says Claire.

They have two main products: an exclusive bespoke garment which is so popular they have had to stop taking any new orders for the summer. “But Tom’s not very good at saying ‘no’,” says Claire. That’s possibly why they are making blazers for the Cockermouth Mechanical Brass Band at cost. “We make for one of their members and he asked if we could help them out,” says Tom. The company’s made to measure (which they started about five years ago) is a more affordable range. This year they are adding more products including a mesh shirt/jacket for more casual wear. 

“A fully bespoke handmade suit costs £6,000 and is the best suit you can buy. The alternative could cost up to £10,000 in London. Our made to measure is around £2,000 which offers great value. You will enjoy the comfort and style of a proper fitting suit that will last for years,” says Tom.

Years ago when every man wore a suit, the company had its own factory in the town and employed 240 staff. “You could say we've probably lost 95 per cent of all the suit wearers from 60 years ago… but you have also lost 99.9 per cent of the tailors and bearing in mind even Wigton had two tailoring businesses it’s all relative,” says Tom.

(Image: Tom Mahon)

Every year Redmayne travels to meet their customers in different cities in America - Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Boston and Louisville Kentucky. In 2025 they are extending the trip to include Chicago and Toronto to meet customer demand. They also visit Nice in the South of France. “The customers, particularly the Americans, like to be advised about what a gentleman wears. Often a client may ask for a certain detail which may be inappropriate or incorrect and Redmayne will politely advise and guide them,” says Claire.

“You have come to us to make sure you have the confidence of being dressed well… for classic British tailoring which has certain rules of dress and etiquette that goes with it. We make elegant, timeless clothing of quality that in many occasions gets handed down to children and even grandchildren,” says Claire.

In their workshop in Wigton’s High Street there are dozens of bespoke patterns hanging up. Each one has been drafted freehand by Tom ("That’s extremely rare,” says Tom). The fitting rooms have vintage bowler hats for light shades; there’s a shotgun on the wall which some customers use during a fitting to ensure the cut works when they’re out shooting and there’s a leather-lined boardroom with pictures of former clients including Willie Whitelaw MP, Prince Charles wearing one of Tom’s suits, writer Charlie Mackesey, Melvyn Bragg and flying ace Douglas Bader who lost both his legs in the Second World War.

Finding staff is difficult. They are training an apprentice, William Nixon, are also just taking on their ninth employee in Wigton and have three sub-contracted tailors who work from home. “There aren't enough young people coming into the industry with the right skills. I can't afford to take on more young people at the moment, what it costs us to teach them is fairly immense. I need more experienced hands. To do what Thomas does is a seven-year apprenticeship,” says Claire. She herself did a degree in fashion, did her work placement at Redmayne, met Tom and they married 15 years ago and have three school-age sons. Now she does the background running of the business and all the social media and Tom with William are the cutters and front of house.

Some of their new ‘more affordable’ ranges like the shirt/jacket will be outsourced to British manufacturers. They also sell accessories made in the UK - handmade silk ties from silk produced in the UK and knitwear. Their knitwear is branded and Claire has been working with a Wigton firm, Stitch & Print for embroidery.

The creation of a Redmayne suit is time-intensive. Tom drafts the bespoke patterns and William cuts the material, one of their coatmakers sews it together for a fitting. Tom or William check the fitting and then make adjustments, the whole garment is taken apart and adjustments made to the pattern, then they re-cut the cloth and it is eventually completed. An average suit from Redmayne takes three to four months to create.

“We supply the very best we can, and that makes everyone feel good,” says Tom. “We have clients all over the world, we have a brilliant product which we work on continually. We have a long heritage and authority but that still does not make a successful business. What makes a successful business is communicating with clients. What we specifically drive for is to tell people about this business, not that we are going to sell them something. Therefore people love the company, we are not a hard selling company. Our driver is our heritage but more our transparency. People like the firm as much as the product,” says Tom.

Tom trained at Redmayne before leaving for Savile Row, working at Anderson & Sheppard, arguably the most famous tailors in London who made suits for Cary Grant, Fred Astaire and other Hollywood greats. He then set up his own business before returning to take over at Redmayne. Wielding a pair of cutting shears given to him from the head cutter at Anderson & Sheppard, he says: “There is a form of romance to it, but it’s genuine romance.” Claire adds: “Thomas's work is very artistic, his style slowly changes… it’s all done by a few measures and the rest is by eye. It’s a combination of expertise and artistry.”

They source almost all of their materials from English-based suppliers including Linton Tweeds in Carlisle and cloth mills in Yorkshire.

Heritage is everything for this company. “It’s a huge privilege to have Redmayne’s, to have this family business, but it’s a heavy weight for both of us. It’s our life,” says Claire. However, they are also moving with the times. Take their horse logo which has been part of the company’s identity almost since the beginning. “We have just revamped our logo a couple of years back. We then realised we're consistent, we refresh our logo every 54 years or so…” says Tom.