Woking

Stephen Bishop is the latest, most modern suiting establishment to open for many a year. We offer you lightweight, designer fit suiting with a range of exclusive accessories to provide you with the most up to date, fashionable look for your big day. Stephen Bishop’s award winning 25 years of experience in formal wear has helped design a truly exclusive formal wear range for you. To compliment this, Stephen Bishop has a desire to offer a unique experience for men so that they feel as important as the bride.

Creating a modern showroom with a unique try on only area offering a comfortable and focused wedding consultation, Stephens range has been created to offer the complete package for grooms and groomsmen, to hire, purchase or made to measure. With the absolute desire to have men dressed as well as their partner or as appropriate and classy as the function dictates, a visit to Stephen’s boutique will ensure you a service and product range that makes for a refreshing change.

When starting my 25 years working within the men’s formal wear industry, I was bemused by the lack of choice offered by suppliers and competitors alike. It was this lack of choice and quality that made me get out there and to try to create something better for my then employer, award winning Hugh Harris Formal Attire.

The first attempt was to negotiate with high-end suppliers to offer something better, more fitted, more wearable. This was successful to a degree but limited. To achieve the type of styling and quality that I wanted, in 1997 I arranged for Hugh Harris Formal Attire to buy designer formal by Establishment’s Mr Tom Gilbey. Tom was a supreme designer in the ’70s designing ranges for the likes of C&A amongst others. In the latter part of Tom’s design career he specialised in hand painted waistcoats, glamorous smoking jackets and truly stunning suiting for society and celebrities alike. This was the quality and difference I was looking for and so I began the original “designer hire”. My collaboration with Tom also saw my first input into suit and accessory design. In conjunction with Tom Gilbey himself, it was a perfect marriage of minds that created a truly unique and very exclusive formal wear range.

With Tom Gilbey’s retirement came a dilemma – no more designer hire? Not so. Designer suiting to hire was so popular with more and more grooms buying their specialist outfits that I went back to the home of suiting itself; Savile Row. There I approached none other than Ozwald Boateng. To cut a long story short, I was able to bring an ultra-stylish and modern range of suiting to the formal wear hire industry. A world exclusive, at last I was starting to feel comfortable with the quality and styling on offer.

The experiences of dealing with the likes of Tom Gilbey and the Ozwald Boateng team gave me an insight into the development of styling, where inspiration comes from and so on, and helped me push the boundaries just that little bit.  Formal Wear does have etiquette limitations but it does not limit fit and quality. Our wallets tend to do that – however over the last decade men’s outfitting for formal events, especially weddings has become more of a priority and a slightly larger budget set for menswear has helped formal wear offer something better.

Working for Hugh Harris was a privilege and I was fortunate to be allowed to simply get on with it. However I was always working for someone else and over the years, especially recently, felt that something else could be offered.

So that was what I have decided to do. I have established Stephen Bishop Suiting to offer what I feel is missing within the industry. It isn’t just about clothing, it is about service as well. Creating own label designs to run alongside established Savile Row Tailoring by the likes of William Hunt and world renowned shoe makers like Oliver Sweeney. Offered via my new appointment only showroom incorporating a unique “Try On Only” area to ensure privacy and one-on-one service with experienced wedding specialists. I hope that you come and see for yourself and help my team and I create something really amazing for you.