The man behind Bespoke HQ

Lauded master tailor behind Terence Trout, Stephen Williams, was destined to work with materials from an early age, as his parents were both in the wool and textile business. His mother inspired his creative mind, wearing a different outfit every day in the family shop, and making sales from the customers coming into the shop just to see what her outfit of the day was. Stephen has taken inspiration from his mother’s way of gaining customers, and wears clothing he designed and made himself, just as she did. After working in the family business from a young age, Stephen wanted to go into the family business after leaving school, yet Stephen’s mother encouraged him to follow his own dreams and make something of himself. After working with Joseph Hepworth & Son on their collaboration with Next and subsequent menswear line, he was trained by them as a tailor before briefly modelling for Next. He then went on to work for a garment manufacturers in Portugal as a designer and tailor after seeing an advert in Drapers. In Portugal Stephen went from strength to strength, gaining new knowledge and winning an exceedingly lucrative deal with Burton’s. When Burton reduced their suit suppliers from 27 to 6, Stephen’s suits and innovative designs won the manufacturing company the project, and the trial of his suits in the Burton stores sold out overnight. The combination of his success with Burton and appearance on a popular TV show got him headhunted for Giorgio Armani in London. Following his success at Armani Stephen then worked with and designed suits for Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Paul Costello ready-to-wear collections, and also worked with Serena Kelsey designing her collections for Selfridges and John Lewis. After reaching his peak amongst the high-street and high-end designers, and gaining valuable knowledge along the way, Stephen Williams made it to Savile Row where he started working as a tailor at William Hunt, helping to modernise the traditional bespoke tailors on The Row and bring a fresh lease of life to the suits created. Realising his dream was to own his own tailoring brand, Stephen set up Terence Trout and opened a shop in Mayfair. Tailor to numerous celebrities and public figures, from James Caan to David Beckham, and Jermaine Jackson to Michael Portillo. Terence Trout was also featured in major fashion magazines and Stephen’s designs were often seen on the red carpet. After the success of Terence Trout, Stephen decided he wanted to use the appeal of the contemporary Terence Trout designs, but at a much higher level of service and tailoring, to provide customers with the luxury feel of the traditional tailoring service. Bespoke HQ is the result. The combination of providing the customer with the luxurious Savile Row service and the indulgent element of creating a bespoke suit, with Stephen’s contemporary eye for detail. www.bespokehq.com