We recently connected with Leonard Logsdail and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Leonard, thanks for joining us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers.

A couple is stories. Neither crazy, but both so relevant to where I am today

I started my business when I was 21 years old and, of course, I thought I knew everything. A couple of years in I was struggling to fit a suit on a gentleman with a particularly difficult body. So I sort of blamed him for the fact I was struggling telling him he had a difficult body. At which he turned round, looked me straight in the eyes and pointed at me saying “Gods work is perfect, yours is not”. And, of course, he was right. He was given his body and it was for me to work with it and not complain. A great lesson

Secondly, I come from one of the poorest areas of London. I was born in 1950 when there were no in-house toilets, showers, bathrooms or even toilet paper. Coming from this area I was trained at school to be fodder for industry. My friends, like me, left school at 15 to take jobs such as trash collectors. I was fortunate inasmuch as I went to a tailoring school and landed on my feet. I could see the shapes and feel the fabrics. By the age of 21 I had my own business. Yet my background , my accent, held me back from progressing. After all, how could someone with my background, for example, even take a drink in one of the many gentleman’s clubs in London. Then I made my first visit to the US. One of my clients was Senator Thomas Eagleton. He took me to lunch in the senate dining room and I dined with him and senator Barry Goldwater. These gents could care less about my background. All they could see was a young man trying to build a business. It was the beginning if my love affair with the United States.

Leonard, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I make hand made suits and have been doing so for over 50 years. Twenty of these on London’s Savile Row and the rest in New York City. The passion I still have for my craft and the quality of my work bring me clients from all over the country to my store on East 53rd street in Manhattan

Although most people will not have heard of me, many will have seen my work in the movies. I am called in for the big movies or the big movie stars. DICaprio, Deniro, Pesche, Pacino, Denzel, Crowe, Jackman, Douglas are just a few that I’ve clothed for movies such as American Gangster, Wall Steet 2, Wolf of Wall Steer, the Oscars, The House of Gucci

However, as interesting and rewarding all of this might be, I consider my biggest achievement has been providing for my family.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I moved to New York from London I had a business partner. His job back in Savile Row was to make the work that I brought in. My job was to build a business out here. After 6 months he brought in another person to work with him in London. By fax, they told me I was on my own. I was left without production or money. I had recently taken a space on Madison Avenue, moved into a new home and had a second child! I was on the verge of calling it a day when a client walked in, ordered 3 suits and gave me a 50% deposit. From this order I managed to turn my business around.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson. I had to learn at a very early age was that the clothes I were making were ordered by others in the style that they wanted. But what I wanted to put them in. After having several suits returned, I learned this lesson very quickly

Contact Info:

• Website: www.leonardlogsdail.com
• Instagram: Leonard Logsdail Bespoke