Joe Holsgrove, Bespoke Tailor: A Tradition of Excellence

During the talk Joe will outline his career journey so far, including everything from how he accidentally found tailoring as a vocation to some of his career highlights dressing some remarkable people. He will also focus on key elements of the bespoke craft, including different parts of the garment creation process and centuries-old influences/terms that still survive to the present day.

Topics he will cover include; pattern cutting, coatmaking and why applying meticulous attention to detail is essential to create the finest clothing in the world.

He will also provide an insight into military tailoring, and how he incorporates hand embroidery into finished uniforms.

With bespoke tailoring having such a rich history, there are many things that have become part of everyday language that are rooted in this fine trade. Joe will explore a few of these, explain their surprising origin and how such a seemingly antiquated industry still informs so much of the modern world.

There will also be an opportunity to ask Joe questions, to further expand upon topics already discussed as well as answering your own thoughts and their relation to his trade.

Images Copyright: 

Jeanie Jean

Instagram: @jeaniejeanphotos

Joe Holsgrove is an independent bespoke tailor with over 15 years’ experience creating some of the finest garments in the world. Having honed his craft on Savile Row, he established his own namesake tailoring house in 2022 and regularly dresses a diverse clientele from around the world, including royalty and many other familiar faces.

Joe is a bespoke tailor in its truest sense. From military uniforms to red-carpet outfits, every garment is conceptualised, drafted, cut and made entirely from scratch using the finest materials and generations of hand-craft knowledge that he proudly upholds. Even the tools he uses have been handed down from master to apprentice over many years, honouring those who have mastered the craft before him.

Soon after completing his first apprenticeship in ‘Coatmaking’, Joe won the prestigious Golden Shears Award in 2015. This biannual competition sees apprentices and students from across the industry design, cut and make an outfit which is anonymously judged for its technical ability by industry experts, then modelled on a catwalk to be scored by a celebrity judging panel. It is often recognised as ‘the Oscars of the tailoring world’.

In 2023 Joe dressed actor and national treasure Bill Nighy for the ‘Met Gala’, to which he arrived with Anna Wintour and instantly drew international media attention to Joe’s work. As the first commission created in his new studio, Bill thought it was a ‘great way to introduce him on the world stage’.

At the heart of every garment that Joe makes lies the belief that clothing is an extension of one’s character. Every single commission is very much a collaboration between him and the individual, resulting in effortlessly elegant pieces that reflect the owner’s personality. There is a remarkable juxtaposition between the antiquated tools he uses and the contemporary clothing that he makes.

Having also created many pieces for the silver screen, it is very likely that you are already familiar with some of Joe’s bespoke creations.