One of the great British designers, Joe Casely-Hayford OBE was a pioneer of casual tailoring and one of the country’s most stylish men.
Having graduated from St Martins, he trained on Savile Row before establishing his brand Casely-Hayford in 1984. Throughout the 80s and 90s he dressed the great and good including pop stars and politicians in his take on deconstructed suiting, and in 2005 was made creative director of Gieves & Hawkes.
In 2009, he relaunched his eponymous brand, this time with his son Charlie as a partner. Today the brand is still known for its easy, elegant suiting and sporty take on classic menswear, and recently opened its first store on London’s Chiltern Street.
Here, Esquire’s fashion editors remember time spent with Joe Casely-Hayford.
Charlie Teasdale, style director
I first met Joe Casely-Hayford at the Esquire offices when he and his son Charlie came in to say hello and discuss the season ahead. I heard about this incredibly stylish and incredibly accomplished man, so I was amazed at how polite and unassuming he was; almost apologetic for making a junior editor find time to meet him.
In the year ahead I'd see him at the odd party or press presentation - and at the Casely-Hayford fashion shows themselves, where father and son would coyly poke out their heads and wave at the crowd.
We shot Joe for our Autumn/Winter ’17 issue of Esquire’s biannual the Big Black Book (main image). It was for a series of portraits of stylish, successful Londoners each ‘modelling’ one piece of timeless men’s clothing. Joe's was a Loro Piana roll neck.
The Casely-Hayford studio in Walthamstow is North East London is a hidden cavern, an expanse of elegant tailoring and fine fabrics behind a tiny, battered sheet metal door. Joe arrived on time, despite the early start, and throughout the hour or two that we were on site, he could not have been an easier subject to photograph or nicer person to spend time with.
The fashion industry is full of chancers, so it was very cool to spend time with someone so accomplished, respected and influential - and yet so kind, easy going and sincere."
Catherine Hayward, fashion director
"The first piece of designer kit I ever bought was by Joe Casely-Hayford. As a fashion student back in the early 90s, Casely-Hayford was the name we bandied around on campus - the one to watch, the label to be seen in.
"Years later, when Joe became the Creative Director of Gieves and Hawkes, I had dinner with him and his wife at Bistrotheque in East London. No fuss, no entourage, I was struck immediately by his softly spoken, quiet charm - a vastly underrated quality nowadays. His strong, yet understated style leaves a lasting legacy of how to be cool in an era of shouty nonsense. It’s not an understatement to say it’s a huge loss to the fashion industry."
