Richard Anderson

On a bright, bitterly cold and snowy morning in January 1982, 17-year-old Richard Anderson made his way with his father to an interview at Savile Row’s illustrious H Huntsman & Sons. They were late, but Richard got the job, with its meagre salary of only £2,000 a year, and his life was changed forever.

Richard’s apprenticeship proved a humbling ordeal overseen by three titans of the trade: the formidably debonair Colin Hammick, fellow chain-smoker and grumpy eccentric Brian Hall, and Dick Lakey, the company’s heroically overworked ‘leg man’. Training under these men in the arcane art of making trousers and coats that could cost as much as £10,000 was an inspiring but also gruelling game, yet ‘Young Richard’ persisted for 17 more years of rigorous practice in perfectionism and prestige – to become, at 34, the youngest head cutter in Huntsman’s 150-year history.

At 36 Richard became the head of his own bespoke tailoring House, Richard Anderson Ltd at 13 Savile Row with business partner Brian Lishak, a 50 year veteran of Savile Row. The House offers the finest standard of make available today and is forging a new future for Savile Row and the young trainees who now come to Richard's door for admission to the great craft of tailoring.