About
Oliver Spencer the brand is the vision of Oliver Spencer the man. Self-taught tailor and shopkeeper, Oli's eye is the starting point of everything we do. Here's his story...
From Market Stall to Catwalk
Frustrated by the limitations of art school and impatient to strike out alone, Oliver Spencer abandoned studenthood in favour of a stall at Portobello Market. And working that market stall ingrained Oli's enduring love of garment and cloth — shop and shopkeeping.
Oliver Spencer the brand was founded in 2002. Having spent the previous decade creating and expanding formalwear brand Favourbrook, Oli wanted to create something new: a range of clothing with all the quality and craft of premium tailoring, but with a relaxed modern style. The philosophy? Quality needn't mean formality; casual needn't mean careless.
Philosophy
That philosophy found plenty of adherents. And from a single shop on London's Lambs Conduit Street, Oliver Spencer has gone on to open three more shops, and an international online business — as well as being stocked in many of the world's leading department stores, from Selfridges to Liberty of London to Mr Porter.
Provenance
Alongside his distinctive design style, Oli is uncompromising in the standards he sets for production and provenance. That means the company seeks out the finest fabrics and yarns from artisanal British and Italian mills, and makes every garment in only the best European factories and workshops. Around 40% of the collection is made in England.
"For me, Oliver Spencer is about being yourself while being smart, being distinctive, being comfortable. I want to make clothes that you can adopt and inhabit. Clothes you can live in, clothes you can do things in." — Oliver Spencer
Winner of the WGSN's global Menswear Designer award in 2013 and twice nominated for Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards, Oliver Spencer is proud of a diverse range of customers and brand ambassadors. In the acting world, these include Jude Law, Idris Elba, Jonah Hauer-King and Michael Fassbender — and in music, Alex James, The Arctic Monkeys, Blur and The Rolling Stones.
