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Douglas Hayward pictured with Sammy Davis Jnr |
West End | News | Westminster| Doug Hayward | tailor to celebrities and stars | Mayfair | Saville Row
Doug Hayward, who died earlier this month aged 73, was a working- class hero and tailor to the stars, responsible for founding some of Britain’s most enduring fashion conventions.
His business in the heart of Mayfair broke the mould set by the stiff upper lip stores in Savile Row – he preferred to greet clients with a glass of champagne and slap on the back rather than the customary “holier than thou” glare.
Soon after founding the Mount Street salon in the 1960s, celebrities including Peter Sellers, Michael Caine and Tony Bennett flocked to Mr Hayward for his gregarious service and trademark fusion style of English elegance and Italian flare – a bold idea at the time. Inevitably, he had a brief flirtation with showbusiness himself, when his character was used as the basis for Harry Pendel in John Le Carre’s The Tailor of Panama.
A childhood in Hayes, with a father labouring all day in a boiler suit and then going out in a scrubbed suit at night, planted a seed in Hayward.
His first taste of tailoring was as an apprentice in Shepherd’s Bush, as he did not have the accent to crack Savile Row. After a stint in the Navy and as a Butlin’s redcoat – both jobs that value smart attire – Mr Hayward struck out on his own and set up shop in Pall Mall. It wasn’t long before he went upmarket and moved to Mount Street.
Living above the store, Mr Hayward prided himself on not having “stags heads and portraits of the Queen Mum” on the walls and having tea and champagne on tap because “I get a lot of birds in”. As word spread, Hayward became something of a counsellor, winning him the soubriquet “the Buddha of Mount Street”.
At a time when the body beautiful was beginning to gain currency, Hayward did not discriminate. He was famed for his observation of minor details: how hands sit in pockets, how men like to cross their legs, and the individual slant of shoulders. He also loved to dress footballers – a by-product of his love for the game, with Bobby Moore his favourite. He even founded his own team – the Mount Street Marchers, who could be seen pounding around Hyde Park on a Sunday morning.
All this success made Hayward a decent living, but this didn’t seem to convince his mother, who until her death thought he was running a brothel. She stashed all the money he gave her beneath her bed with a note that read: “This money is to get Doug out of prison when they finally get him.”
His legacy lives on – the business continues to be run by Mr Hayward’s daughter Polly by his second wife, the writer Glenys Roberts.
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