Benjamin Vaughan A tailor-made success?


fashion interview plugged


store would sit as happily in New York’s Williamsburg, or London’s Columbia Road. The tailoring on offer is classic but youthful, cut in “gorgeous fabrics and a rich palette of solids, bold stripes, and colourful checks”. Fabrics are sourced diversely – from Scotland- based clothmaker Holland and herry to independent fabric houses in Birmingham.


“Now in my second year, I’ve been able to recruit the amazing Edward Rowlands who has a pedigree in retail fashion, most recently at Harvey Nicholls,” he explains.


“Having grown up in Birmingham, I’d seen nothing like it,” says 27-year-old Benjamin Vaughan in the kind of soft Birmingham accent that makes a man sound relentlessly chipper. “All these men with pocket squares and matching ties and belt straps… they just oozed class.” His epiphany moment came when, at 22, he was working in Monte Carlo for a property developer, having set up his first business (in tele-market- ing and web design) at the tender age of 20. He decided it was time for a new


“The use of colourful tailoring to reflect personality and status was exciting”


start. Vaughan returned to England a new man. “The idea of using colourful tailoring to reflect personality and status was really exciting to me,” he said, “so I went wild and began wearing brightly checked suits,” he explains. Vaughan soon translated his new-found passion in fabric to the workplace, land- ing counter shifts at the great Frank Rostron’s, a world-renowned tailor from


Manchester. “Before I knew it, I was the manager and I was in a position to learn everything I could about textiles, fabrics and bespoke couture and cus- tomer service,” he remembers.


In 2008, after two years managing Frank Rostron, Vaughan felt it was time to return home to Birmingham. He brought his new passion for tailoring with him, seeking premises to set up his own shop. It was a brave move in a city that – despite its mid-20th century fame for quality Caribbean tailoring – was now resolutely off-the-peg. A storefront in the city centre would have been ideally placed for city-worker trade, but the rental costs were beyond the young businessman’s pocket. Instead, Vaughan took a gamble on Kings Heath, a youthful suburb in this city of sprawling backstreets.


His boutique Benjamin’s Bespoke Shirt Makers & Tailors is now one of the key fixtures on York Road, a rising Birmingham-style quarter that’s also home to vintage store Top Banana (and quirky organic café Kitchen Garden Café). With its muted walls and pristine ranks of impeccably pressed shirts, the


Right now, colour swatches demand Vaughan’s attention; this new season’s styles promise ‘bold looks in seasonal colours such as lilacs and lemons plus experimentation with embroidery techniques’. In upcoming seasons, Vaughan would love to bring back a few neglected classics such as the sports jacket (“It’s underrated, but a classic look that suits most men”). With his tailoring capturing the attention of British TV personalities, is there anyone he’d love to dress? “I think Einstein would have been great,” beams Vaughan. “I’d have made him a bespoke shirt with quirky stripes and details to reflect his genius!”


Benjamin’s Bespoke Shirtmakers and Tailors, 21a York Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham, 07918 941 883 www.benjaminvaughan.com


Win yourself a Vaughany original!


Benjamin’s is delighted to offer one lucky reader the chance to have their very own, handmade wool tie, just in time for winter. For a chance to win this high-end, one-off product, just answer the following question:


The original home of tailoring in England was: a) Savile Street b) Savile Arch or c) Savile Row


Send your answer along with your name, phone number and address to comps@flavourmag.co.uk


www.flavourmag.co.uk 059


Words by Alex Evans


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