Congratulations from everyone at the Savile Row Bespoke Association (SRBA) go to each of the eighteen finalists of this year’s Golden Shears awards, not least Thomas Pierre Carr (pictured, top) who took the first prize of The Golden Shears, plus £3,000. Thomas is a trainee at SRBA member Richard Anderson.

The second prize of The Silver Shears, plus £2,500, went to Judith Ekblom Jarrold (pictured, middle), a trainee at Maurice Sedwell. And the third The Rising Star award, plus £2,000, was won by Jon Pickering (pictured, bottom), a trainee at SRBA member Dege & Skinner.

The Golden Shears awards were founded in 1974 to promote the craft of bespoke tailoring and are open to students and apprentices throughout the UK.

Over 50 entries were received for this year’s awards. The awards’ Technical Judges give marks for interpretation of design, accuracy of cutting, and tailoring skills. And then the Style Judges award marks for more aesthetic considerations, to determine the three winning entries.

This year’s Technical Judges were Davide Taub, Head Cutter at SRBA member Gieves & Hawkes, Brigitte Stepputtis, Global Head of Couture at Vivienne Westwood, Joe Morgan, Head Cutter at SRBA member Chittleborough & Morgan, Leon Powell, Senior Cutter at SRBA member Anderson & Sheppard, and Jonathan Becker, Head Cutter at Couch & Hoskins.

The Style Judges were Tom Chamberlin, Editor in Chief of The Rake, Daisy Knatchbull, Founder of The Deck, TV and radio presenter Dave Berry, arts and entertainment presenter Lilah Parsons, and journalist Aleksandar Cvetkovic.

An exhibition of pieces from this year’s Golden Shears will be at The Service at 32 Savile Row from 26th July to 16th August.