About Timothy Everest
Two decades ago, Timothy Everest had a hunch. “It was the early 90s, and everybody had gone through the whole “designer” and “brand” thing,” he says. “I felt like I could introduce a new generation to the joys of handmade clothing – investment pieces that were built to last.”
His hunch proved right. Twenty years later, Everest presides over a bespoke tailoring business with clients ranging from art dealers to accountants to rock stars, whom he encourages to dress as (in) appropriately as they wish. “There's no house style,” he says. “We're about individuality, and expressing your personality through style, shape, and all the quirky little details that make each commission unique.”
Everest's dedication to his craft was recognised by Her Majesty The Queen in 2010, when he was awarded the MBE for services to tailoring. His apprenticeship with Tommy Nutter (the legendarily iconoclastic tailor to the Beatles and Rolling Stones in the 60s and 70s) left him with a healthy disdain for the stuffiness of Savile Row, alongside an abiding appreciation of its peerless standards of craftsmanship. “Our customers love the fact that we establish a relationship with them and craft something that's for them and them alone,” he says. “We're for people who've gone beyond the dictates of high fashion and want a modern, invigorated, very British, not-too-reverent take on contemporary tailoring.”
Everest's clientele is as various and inclusive as the clothes he makes for them. Visitors to his bespoke atelier, a lovingly-restored Georgian house in Spitalfields (once occupied by Bloomsbury artist Mark Gertler) range from the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, to Hollywood and sports personalities such as Tom Cruise and David Beckham, to the artists and City toilers who live and work on his doorstep.
Everest's infectious enthusiasm for his art, and his magpie sensibility, has led to a broad and diverse range of creative collaborations over the years. He has created costumes for movies including Atonement, Mamma Mia, Eyes Wide Shut, and Mission Impossible. He has dressed celebrities for the Oscars, designed the British Olympic Team uniforms for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and styled Mick Jagger for his performance at the Grammy Awards in 2011.
He worked with Daks as Group Creative Director from 2000-2003, and was responsible for the global restructuring of the classic British company. For the past decade, he has acted as Creative Consultant to another British institution, overseeing the Autograph, Sartorial and Luxury tailoring collections for Marks & Spencer. “Autograph by Timothy Everest” ad campaigns have been fronted by Bryan Ferry and Take That; Everest also collaborated with M&S in designing the England football team's off-field uniforms for the 2008 European Championships and the 2010 World Cup.
Everest mixes mainstream and outre with ease, as his current raft of projects illustrates. As well as limited edition clothing ranges with British cycling label Rapha and luxury Korean label Cambridge Members, he is designing the uniforms for Armin Storm, official watchmakers to the Virgin Racing team, and for the staff of superstar chef Marcus Wareing's new restaurant the Gilbert Scott, in the refurbished St Pancras Hotel. He also has an ongoing role as Creative Contributor and Style Arbiter for the luxe gent's style bible The Rake. In late 2011, he'll be launching a clothing collection with Brooks, esteemed makers of leather cycle saddles and accessories. And, above all, his bespoke business remains buoyant. “It's at the core of everything I do,” he says. “I think we've shown that tailoring has a continuing relevance for people. There's really nothing more rewarding than the whole bespoke process, for our clients or for us.”