Doug Hayward; Tailor who broke the old-fashioned mould and dressed actors, aristocrats and entrepreneurs

[Hyfler/Rosner]

"Hayward lived in a flat above his shop, and spent weekends
at a house on Lord Hambleden's estate in Oxfordshire. But he
remained proud of his Cockney roots; and every week until
her death in 1984 he visited his mother, Winifred (who had
worked in a bullet-making factory during the war),
presenting her each time with a £1 note to pay for her
meals-on-wheels.

When she died the family found this money preserved in 15
ice-cream boxes under her bed, along with a note reading:
"This money is to get Doug out of prison when they finally
get him." She did not believe that her son could earn so
much money as a tailor, and assumed that he must have
criminal connections."

Doug Hayward
Last Updated: 10:59PM BST 29/04/2008
Daily Telegraph

Tailor who broke the old-fashioned mould and dressed actors,
aristocrats and entrepreneurs.

Doug Hayward, who died on Saturday aged 73, was one of the
sartorial wizards to emerge in 1960s London; from his
tailoring business at 95 Mount Street, Mayfair, he brought a
new personality to the serious man's attire, instilling the
traditional English style with a dash of Italian flair.

If the traditional English tailor - as exemplified by Savile
Row - greeted its clientele with a certain stuffiness or
pomposity, Hayward sought to break the mould. "There are no
stags' heads coming through the walls, no pictures of the
Queen Mum," he explained. "It's relaxed, nice and easy. And
besides, I get a lot of birds in."

His shop - decorated with grey flannel on the walls and
Italian marble floors - took on the character of a 1960s'
salon. Hayward would receive clients seated in a wing chair,
usually offering them a glass of champagne.

His clients became his friends (he refused to make suits for
anyone he didn't like). They included Michael Caine, Terence
Stamp, Peter Sellers, Tony Bennett, John Gielgud, Rex
Harrison and Michael Parkinson. When Roger Moore played
James Bond, his suits were by Doug Hayward; as were Clint
Eastwood's in many of his films.

Many would simply drop in for a chat. The photographer Terry
O'Neill once said: "They call Doug 'the Buddha of Mount
Street'. You wouldn't believe the number of people who go to
him for advice. He's probably the best-loved man in London."
And Hayward himself recalled: "I suppose women talk to their
hairdresser and men talk to their tailor. If you give them
the chance all their worries will come flying out." He
always remained, however, entirely discreet.

His clientele extended beyond the world of showbusiness.
With little choice available for City men who wanted a new
take on the traditional business suit, entrepreneurs such as
Gordon White and James Hanson became customers. Aristocrats
too came to the door. Patrick Lichfield - with whom Hayward
ran a dining club, Burke's, in Mayfair - took him to
Mustique because Princess Margaret found him such an amusing
companion, particularly his renderings of songs by Cole
Porter.

In later years Hayward provided a model for Harry Pendel,
the principal character in John Le Carré's Tailor Of Panama.
In the book's acknowledgments, Le Carré writes: "Doug
Hayward of Mount Street allowed me my first misty glimpse of
Harry Pendel." Hayward remarked at the time: "I'm flattered
if I have helped with the book. David Cornwell [Le Carré's
real name] took me out for a couple of lunches and he
checked a lot of details about tailoring with me."

Douglas Frederick Cornelius Hayward was born on October 5
1934 at Kensington, and brought up at Hayes, Middlesex. His
father, who cleaned the boilers at the BBC, was an eccentric
character who painted the family's semi-detached house
shocking pink and relaxed by creating topiary in the front
garden.

Doug won a place at Southall Grammar School, but decided to
leave at 15, with the ambition to find a white-collar job.
"We didn't have a careers master," he later recalled, "but I
found a booklet which listed possible occupations. I went
down the list and when I got to T for tailor, I thought: 'I
don't know any tailors. I can't ever be judged as being a
bad or a good one, so I'll be a tailor.' "

Having failed to find a job in Savile Row because "I didn't
have the right accent", he became apprenticed to a tailor at
Shepherd's Bush. His first wife, Diana, was the sister of
Melissa Stribling, who was married to the film director
Basil Dearden, and through this connection the young Hayward
established extensive contacts with many young,
up-and-coming actors. They appreciated not just his sense of
style; they also enjoyed his unstuffy personality, sense of
humour and capacity for fun.

As he prospered Hayward took to driving his secondhand Mini
up to the West End to attend to customers such as Richard
Burton, ensconced at his suite in the Dorchester. Finally,
in 1967, he set up at 95 Mount Street, where the business
remains to this day.When Hayward started out, Mount Street
still had something of the character of a village high
street, with establishments such as an electrician and a
baker. Yet it was only a stone's throw from Savile Row and
bang in the middle of one of the smartest districts of the
capital.

Hayward lived in a flat above his shop, and spent weekends
at a house on Lord Hambleden's estate in Oxfordshire. But he
remained proud of his Cockney roots; and every week until
her death in 1984 he visited his mother, Winifred (who had
worked in a bullet-making factory during the war),
presenting her each time with a £1 note to pay for her
meals-on-wheels.

When she died the family found this money preserved in 15
ice-cream boxes under her bed, along with a note reading:
"This money is to get Doug out of prison when they finally
get him." She did not believe that her son could earn so
much money as a tailor, and assumed that he must have
criminal connections.

Hayward, who himself liked to dress elegantly (he had a
particular fondness for colourful tweeds), also sold
hand-made shoes and his own line in watches and leather
luggage. He lectured at the Royal College of Art on
tailoring, placing particular emphasis on cutting. He used
to say: "You can't do anything unless you can cut."

Doug Hayward's second wife was the writer Glenys Roberts.
They married in 1970 (dissolved 1978) and had a daughter,
Polly, who took over the tailoring business in 2006.