Geoff Souster, Co-Founder of Souster & Hicks / Bespoke Tailoring

Souster & Hicks is a family business established in 1978 by husband and wife team, Geoff and Laura Souster. Based in a stunning Georgian building located in the beautiful village of Woburn, Bedfordshire; Souster & Hicks has since gone on to inspire a new generation with their sons Scott and Wes and their daughter in law; Natalie completing the family team. Geoff Souster has a career spanning 50 years, hand cutting more than 30,000 bespoke suits. He was elected as the youngest ever National President of the Federation of Merchant Tailors in 1988, and also works as a consultant helping to set up and improve the patterns created for made to measure manufacturers, such as Wensum. Laura Souster has also been working in the tailoring industry for 50 years, and is a highly skilled tailoress. Laura successfully runs her ever-growing ladies tailoring business together with her daughter-in-law, Natalie Souster, who most recently joined the family business. With a highly experienced lineup, they have developed a strong reputation in the art of bespoke cutting and tailoring. In this episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast we interview Geoff Souster, Owner of Souster & Hicks about his long history of working within the world of bespoke tailoring, a journey which began when he dropped out of school at the age of 15. From there he started an apprenticeship at a local tailors and went on to attend the London College of Fashion to learn the basics of the trade. Our host Peter Brooker and Geoff talk about famous clients, changing tailoring trends, education, the art of customer service, learning from mistakes, and how men should adopt smart casual.Whilst we have your attention, be sure to sign up to our daily MenswearStyle newsletter here. We promise to only send you the good stuff.