STEED'S VIEW: January 2010

Wednesday, 6 January 2010

To Know Him Is To Love Him

It is with deepest regret to inform you, that Ronald Hardy (Ron), a true friend and colleague passed away at the weekend.

It was by chance that he came to work for Steed over thirteen years ago, when myself & Thomas Mahon, now (Englishcut) advertised for a tailor in the newspaper. He was visiting Cumbria with his partner Pat, like they did on many occasions & found a last copy of the Cumberland news before heading back home to Liverpool.

The wealth of knowledge that he had & not just in tailoring, was phenomenal & if you wanted to know anything, you didn’t have to Google it, you just asked Ron.

He touched so many lives, both here & where he grew up in Liverpool, alongside people like Sir Paul McCartney, who was the same age 67 and went to the same high school. (Liverpool Institute).

Customers alike got to know Ron, mainly through myself on my travels & appreciated the workmanship that went into their suits & always sent their best wishes & regards, which I passed on & was always appreciated by him.

Ron had spent all his life in tailoring & was 15 years old when he started. His real name is Ronald and his middle name is Kenneth but there was already a tailor by the name of Ron working there, so they told him, “He’d be Ken”. So they’ll be a lot of people in Liverpool who would know him as Ken.

During his career he worked on various projects, such as making the uniforms for the film, Where Eagles Dare, which starred, Richard Burton & Clint Eastwood. Also he made a Johnny Walker type red tailcoat for the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, which was worn by the captain.

These two photo's have been much admired by all who have seen them on The London Lounge and other forums and also featured in previous posts on Steed's View, which Ron made for us.

Unfortunately we don't have too many other photo's of Ron but the one above is taken by Tom at one of English Cut's gatherings and one of Ron where he was most at home, working at his board here at Steed, where it doesn't quite feel right without him being there working alongside us every day.

He will be sorely missed by all of those whose lives he touched.

The funeral will take place in Ron’s hometown of Liverpool on Friday, 15^th January 2010.

History of Steed Bespoke Tailors of Savile Row

Established in January 1995, Steed gained a reputation as one of Savile Row's finest tailors, offering clients a soft understated elegance.

Edwin DeBoise, whose father and brother are both tailors, trained at the London College of Fashion and then worked under legendary cutter Edward Sexton (Tommy Nutter) followed by seven years at Anderson & Sheppard before founding Steed.

January 2002 was Steed's eighth year in business and one which also saw Edwin taking full control of the company after an amicable split with his then business partner, Thomas Mahon (english cut) with whom he started the company with back in 1995.

September 2008 saw Edwin's eldest son, Matthew join the company where he is currently learning the trade under his father whilst also running the business and marketing aspects of the company.

Edwin & Matthew's schedule includes at least 4 visits to the USA each year in order to cater for Steed's expanding overseas client base.

September 2011 saw Steed venture to Beijing, China with a view to multiple visits throughout 2012 and beyond.

Steed's ever growing reputation has resulted in features in such publications as GQ, American Express Departures Magazine and most recently a 10-page article written by Matthew DeBoise that was published in China's top fashion magazine, TIDE.