The Third Generation Master Tailor who uses his Autism & being bullied at school to change the Clothing Industry

Thom Bennett is an unlikely success story. But like all great true rags-to-riches narratives, immense adversity & overcoming the unbeatable, shapes his difficult journey. Born in Surrey in 1966, his father was a physicist, and his mother a mathematician. A slight child with dyslexia and bullied from an early age he was soon pigeonholed and misdiagnosed as “naughty” and put in for remedial classes which escalated to him being nearly expelled in his final exam year. Next in his teenage years came drug abuse and ecstasy binges as he gained a master’s radio production and tried to settle into a job as a sound engineer and DJ.

Nothing would work for him in his early years as he battled unbeknown and undiagnosed ADHD & Autism. He knew he was different and struggled not knowing why. These early years didn’t yet understand these key human disabilities and tough existence was made more difficult as there was knowledge or treatment for something not accepted or identified by society. Tumultuous and painful years followed with, Thom Bennett getting a slight rest bite by taking an apprenticeship in fashion design & tailoring in Liverpool. The senior teacher there spotted the latent talent in the strange young man, took a liking to him, and would teach him more advanced tailoring skills out of class hours.

Unbeknown to everyone, was that Thom Bennett had fine tailoring in his genes. As a child, his mum would drop him off in his grandfather’s prominent Savile Row tailors shop Anderson & Shephard where he would be in the middle of suits being made for big names like Fred Astaire, the King of Jordan, and the Sultan of Bruni. The business had been started in 1005 by his great grandfather Per Gustav Anderston, and amongst some of the finest tailors in London at the time young Thom witnessed and was shown some of the most valuable and precious skills in suit-making passed down through the family.

in 1983, Armani was just bringing out ready-to-wear suits, and the old tailors weren’t teaching their skills. With a heavy depression & self-harming Thom’s neurodiversity was becoming a grave problem. He was crushed by a car and broke his back. Contemplating his adversities, Thom saw an opportunity to go to Ireland and a handcraft tailoring academy for a year. It was not only to save his life but put him on a journey that at a pivotal time is changing the tailoring industry. Now the Founder of Thom Bennett Bespoke Ltd, he is leading the way back to real English, Gentlemanly tailoring. He hand sews everything, keeping the old skill approach alive, uses the old cutting system Thornton drafting patterns by hand, and tailors the front dart in his exclusive suits the Florentine way. One of only two people in the world to do so. In a time where real detail to our finer garments is being lost and forgotten, Thom is now causing waves amongst some of the world’s top clothes makers. A real testament to anything is possible if you really want it enough…