Charlie Casely-Hayford for Fashion Beans
Editorial feature of menswear designer Charlie Casely-Hayford for Fashion Beans
Standing inside Casely-Hayford’s new two-floor, apartment-style store in London’s Marylebone, it’s hard to take any doomsday hand-wringing over the state of tailoring seriously. Current trends in fashion may suggest that men will soon be going from cradle to grave in an £800 branded tracksuit, but there’s no evidence of that here.
Precision is everywhere. Suits hung from the walls strike the Goldilocks centre-point of having neither too much or too little in the way of structure, while unassuming formal trousers rub up against bold jacquard blazers. Everything on show has enough interest to compete with the latest hype sneaker drop, and it’ll undoubtedly stay in favour for longer.
Showing us around is co-founder Charlie Casely-Hayford. He started the label when he was just 22 with his father Joe, a man who dressed everyone from The Clash to Princess Diana before heading up storied Savile Row firm Gieves & Hawkes. Today, the father-son outfit is one of the most exciting and coveted brands in menswear.
Now, you could argue that a new tailoring shop in the well-heeled Marylebone area is nothing to hold the front page for. But what makes Casely-Hayford’s presence so important right now is its ability to blow the cobwebs away from a potentially declining art of making a proper suit.
All the painstaking craft and reverence for tradition is accounted for, but the brand’s main appeal is its ability to take that intricate craftsmanship and breathe new life into it, whether that’s through offering made-to-measure bomber jackets, or updating the notion of a fusty tailors with till points made from recycled plastic bottles.
It’s an approach already being received well in the area. As FashionBeans meets with Casely-Hayford outside the store, it’s hard to overemphasise the frequency at which the man is stopped for a chat by the locals, all keen to catch up with one of Britain’s brightest talents. And, in fairness to those who stopped, he’s a hard figure to miss. Standing at 6’7 and wearing clothes so well-cut that it induces instant paranoia about everything currently hanging off your own body, he has leading-man presence (he’s also fronted campaigns for the likes of Converse and Dr Martens).
His easy-going nature is uncommon, too. Not only for someone who, since 2009, has been known for tailoring, one of the most rule-bound corners of menswear, but for someone who has fashion in his blood (not to mention a dad who received an OBE for services to fashion).
That approachability extends to the clothes he designs, too. Yes, you could spend a sizeable amount of money at the new store on the label’s superb made-to-measure or bespoke tailoring service, but Casely-Hayford has also just launched a collection for Topman, including suits that come in well under £200.
Words by Luke Sampson. For full feature and interview visit:
https://www.fashionbeans.com/article/charlie-casely-hayford-tailoring/
