Mark Powell I REMEMBER...

After four decades of making clothes for the great and the good, stylist and tailor Mark Powell (63) is Soho's last man standing

- Jason Holmes

I WAS BORN IN KING'S COLLEGE HOSPITAL ON DENMARK HILL. My mother was born in East London and my dad was from South London, but I spent a lot of time as a kid in East London with my mum’s family, so most people assume I’m an East Ender. I was interested in fashion since I was eight or nine. I didn’t question it. It was just something that was naturally a part of me. In the mid-1970s, I was one of the more stylish kids at school. I’d wear beads around my neck with a mohair jumper, drainpipe trousers and winkle pickers.

THE 1970S IN LONDON WAS A VERY STYLISH TIME WITH A LOT GOING ON. When I lived in Romford, aged 13 or 14, I used to travel up to the capital quite a lot. I kept my eyes open. When I was 17, I got into hairdressing and ended up working in a salon on Savile Row in Mayfair. A few doors along from the salon was the legendary tailor, Tommy Nutter. And of course, just around the corner was South Molton Street, which was an exciting fashion centre at the time. So a mixture of all of these things was inspiring me for the future.