It was the Boston-born writer Ralph Waldo Emerson who once said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” He was, of course, right on so many levels: if we just settled with our current life situation, there would be no reason to progress – and how boring would that be? Motivation is based on moving forward, stagnation is creativity’s worst enemy. We must constantly strive for more knowledge, that’s the fuel of life. But Emerson was also right in a more concrete way: we constantly move around, we go places. One day you live in A, and next day in B. And once there, you also have multiple addresses; the more the older you get. Sure, some you stay at for a substantial time, but at some point you will move. That’s one of the true facts of life.
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After a while, realising he needed expert help to meet demand, Tom lured Gri up to Cumbria. Who knows how he did it, but Gri left Anderson & Sheppard, moved up north and joined Tom’s sartorial band of brothers. English Cut, as we know it today, was born. And for many years, that’s how it went. New customers, more sta . Worldwide trips to see global customers. New York, Boston and San Francisco: all had their chance to experience Tom and Gri ’s bespoke tailoring. Though still a fairly small outfit from Cumbria, English Cut managed to spread their sartorial gospel to all four corners of the world.
Look at the life of English Cut. Founder Tom Mahon was born in Cumbria, but moved to London wanting to “build a career”, one that could satisfy his ambition to fully learn the bespoke trade. He ended up at Anderson & Sheppard, where he eventually wound up going from apprentice to head cutter. There he met Griff, his current chief coat-maker, who’ll you find out more about on page 24. In 1995, Tom decided to leave Anderson & Sheppard and set up his own outfit, English Cut. While maintaining a London address where he could see his loyal customers, he decided to move back up to the hills of Cumbria, in a village five miles from Carlisle, where he had grown up.
But change had to come, and it did. As often is the case, it involved a journey. Ralph Waldo Emerson would have been proud. Today, English Cut is present in Boston, albeit in a small concession at the reputable Boston Mandarin Oriental (see page 118 for an insight into the daily adventures of concierge Jennifer Boucher), and there’s also a standalone store in London. Late last year, Tom and Gri returned from Cumbria to Chiltern Street in Marylebone to bring back the English Cut experience to the capital. I can’t remember who said it – maybe you heard it here first – but life is a journey, not a destination.
