Work has begun on 17 Clifford St. It is very exciting to see the army of hard-hatted builders in their high-viz jackets streaming in and out.

It always amazes me how fast walls can be knocked down and new areas and shapes appear. The space is wonderful with so much natural light, a rare treat in London.

We have spent the past months discussing and researching what we feel our customers would enjoy and we are trying as much as possible to create our products in Britain. However we do have some beautiful scarves being made in India. Emily and I are heading to Shetland this week to work with the knitters from the yarn to the sweater.

Working with the wider A&S family is of course very valuable because there is a great pool of knowledge, enthusiasm and experience. It is also huge fun.

We are sourcing the best possible cloths for the ultimate white shirt, superb soft moleskins and corduroys for trousers, with of course an emphasis on cut and comfort high on the list.

There is a vast amount of work to be done for the shop to open in the Autumn, but it is a challenge that we are enjoying.

This lightweight worsted jacket is a nice light blue with a blue and green check. The grey horn buttons work well, and as ever the check is a nice excuse to show off some pattern matching.

We have a greater range of summer cloths this year, with a particular range from Solbiati selected to hang in longer lengths on the rails. The great advantage of this is that customers can drape them over their shoulder and get a greater sense of how the finished jacket will look.

We have lovely seersucker, which comes in a whole range of colours – including pure navy, rather than just a navy stripe, which looks really good and unusual. Seersucker is popular with everyone, American and British alike.

There are some heavy linens, 13 ounce I believe, which come up very nicely and have the feel of a solid hopsack. There is some grey linen – very nice with a white shirt and you can thow jeans at it and it wil work well too. It’s still very sunny without being too classic.

Blues come in a range, from the strong, mid-blues that work well as a jacket to the inky navy tones that look lovely as a suit. Navy linen can look quite dusty if there’s too much grey in it, so personally I like a really deep navy.

There’s a great shape to the lapels on this green-velvet smoking jacket, and it’s a nice excuse to highlight the work on the frogging too, on both the fronts and cuffs.

Mansion House in the City of London is hosting year-long display of the finest examples of wool used in both clothing and interior decoration, with the generous hospitality of Rt Hon The Lord Mayor David Wootton.

The display in the grand salon, which also supports The Campaign for Wool, opened at the beginning of March and will take part in London.

The display will include a bespoke suit made by us in a gorgeous Dormeuil cloth. Pictured are close-ups of the suit and Oliver and Ollie assembling the display. Dormeuil, which is celebrating its 170-year anniversary this year, is also working with us on a special Jubilee jacketing.

Also featured in the show are Margaret Howell and Stuart Lamprel for Hardy Amies.

Moleskin is rather unusual in a jacket, being more often used for trousers. But it works very well here, going particularly well with the brown horn buttons.

This is an unusual double-breasted jacket in a shetland tweed. It is a medium blue with a dark blue windowpane check. Nice to show the pattern matching across the ticket and hip pockets.

Vicuna cloth has been very popular recently, mostly for overcoats. There seems to be a desire to use the best cloth possible, and vicuna is certainly the most luxurious. It has a beautiful feel to it, something people immediately respond to when they touch it for themselves. It’s not cheap – the overcoat I’m working on at the moment will cost over £20,000. But men want the very best.

The most popular colour is tan, but customers also go for brown, black and navy. Some like the polo-coat style, with patch pockets and turn-back cuffs, but most want a simple double-breasted style. It feels very English and classic.

When I first worked with vicuna it was hard to get hold of; you needed to have a certificate to prove you had acquired it legally. But Loro Piana has increased the supply a lot in recent years, as it has worked with local farmers.
The same philosophy of seeking out the very best extends to jackets, as well. Where customers would previously have ordered a greater proportion of tweed, they now have cashmere versions in similar colours and patterns.

One of the last overcoats of the season, this is a double-breasted coat in fawn cashmere at the basted fitting stage.

It’s the time of year again when members of the Anderson & Sheppard cutting room who go in with customers, who need to represent the firm by wearing A&S garments, have a stock suit made. Most of us get one a year.

The longer-serving individuals have acquired a fair collection of suits, so they can afford to have things made that are specific to a season and range the weights in their wardrobe. The younger guys need to go for something that will be wearable for most of the year.

So I’m going for an 11-ounce flannel, while senior trouser cutter John Malone is having a 15-ounce navy fresco made. Both are A&S stock cloths.

One of our regular trouser makers is making up the first pair, but he has now decided to have a second pair to increase the longevity of the suit – and has asked me to make them up.

It’s a tradition at the company that the senior cutters, and to an extent the owners, have a tailor make up something for them before they are allowed to make anything for a customer. Just so they can check that the quality and fit is good enough. This is the first pair I am making for another member of staff. I’m quite looking forward to it.

The fresco is a lovely weight and quite an open-weave cloth. The open weave means that you need to consider fusing some parts of it so that nothing frays, such as the pocket facings. They will be fused and serged (overlocked) to give them some more strength. Obviously the linen is still there, but it can do with a little more support.