We caught up with Wayne Carter, Head of Technical and Quality Assurance at T.M.Lewin, and asked him about how he got started in the business and the other brands that he admires.

How did you get started in Garment Technology?
After leaving school in ‘77, I started working for a ladieswear manufacturer as a general assistant in all areas of the business. The company was then taken over by a denim jean company where I started working in the cutting room and with the pattern maker. 

When they closed in the recession at the end of the 70’s, I went to work for one of Marks & Spencer’s major shirt makers where I began in the art of shirt engineering and my search for perfection. I had various roles during my 15 years at this company, working in all aspects of the business from cutting, sewing, line management, time and study engineering, Quality Control and group Technical Services as well as attending a 2 year course at the London College of Fashion in Pattern Cutting and Garment Making.

My first insight into and understanding of Jermyn Street, was when we were commissioned by Hilditch and Key to make their bespoke shirts and I was significantly involved with working in their Jermyn Street store.

In 1995, realising that I needed greater challenges in my life, I wrote to Geoff Quinn (CEO of TM Lewin), I was delighted when I was invited to meet Geoff and John Francomb and after a second interview to be offered a post within the company working for John (then the Managing Director of T.M.Lewin Manufacturing division) at our factory at Leigh on Sea, Essex. Working for John really was the missing piece to my “jigsaw”. I have learnt so much from John and it has been a pleasure to work with such a clever creative mind.

After managing our factory for a couple of years and as T.M.Lewin needed to source shirts from Europe to feed the company’s growth, I was asked to move to head office to focus on new products and sourcing new manufacturers with John Francomb (now Creative Director), setting up and maintaining our very high, stringent requirements - ensuring that we have the very best quality products.

I pride myself and my team on having very high standards of excellence and such passion about all of our products, ensuring we achieve continuity and quality across our brand. We have such a major hands-on approach in the factories and in all aspects of the manufacturing process to the point where we occasionally will sit down at a sewing machine in the factory, sew the garment in order to show what exactly we want, rather than be told by the factory technical managers what they want to give us. This really helps the operators and is always thankfully received. This is due to the fact we have all come from manufacturing backgrounds and have a wealth of knowledge, now in both retail and manufacturing, making us quite unique against our competitors. This also enables us to work on developments in house, saving time and expense with sampling.

What does a typical day at T.M.Lewin consist of for you?
There is never a typical day at T.M. Lewin…there is always so much going on, dealing with the suppliers and manufacturing, developments, meetings and generally supporting all other departments, sales staff and customer services with technical questions and advice.

Where do you get inspiration from?
Like nearly everyone would no doubt say, it’s what I pick up from the world around me.  As I travel extensively, I’m constantly being bombarded with new sights, sounds & smells, that I filter consciously & unconsciously.  My team is vibrant & I find we bounce ideas off each other, that can be transferred into creating something new or improving what exists.  Very rarely is clothing about pure creation, it’s about incremental changes that develops new interest.  With this in mind, I am frequently inspired by watching silverscreen flicks and digging through pictorial reference material.  Great people also inspire me, especially those who have gained their reputations during testing times.

What’s the best part of your job?
Receiving high praise for the acknowledged quality & fit of our products, regardless of the exceptionally good prices paid.  My wonderful team continually strive so hard to maintain and improve standards, which makes my life so much easier.

Travelling to a new country to source new and improved manufacturing is always fascinating, though the down sides are the times that you just want to get back into your own bed, like when I’m stuck in a bizarre place with no flight home thanks to the Icelandic ash cloud!

Apart from TML what other designer/retailer do you admire the most?
I really like Dunhill because the quality of their products are generally high and the designs are timeless. I am a great fan of Mont Blanc too, their leather goods are delightful, very well engineered and designed with function and purpose in mind. I like to try many retailers for cloths and accessories, I don’t really have a favourite.  Though saying that, Mark Powell has just opened a store in Marshall Street, Soho and I dig his neat, detailed and slightly retro tailoring.  My friends run a fabulous little ready to wear & bespoke tailoring business also in Soho, in Newburgh Street called Blaqua.  Many of their designs are way too out there for my taste, but they are one of the most interesting brands I know.  I do own a few pairs of their exceptional cufflinks, as they are the most unique out there.  Although not clothing, I do love a rummage around in an independent hardware store, where they’re like an Aladdin’s cave of things that I think I may need to use one day and more often than not, never do!

What do you do when you’re not working?
I’ve recently bought another money pit of an apartment in Hackney and I’m having it overhauled.  Normally I would do most of the graft myself, but as I’m away so much presently, I’m leaving it predominantly in the hands of my capable tradesmen.  I love catching up with pals in proper boozers like the Dove in Broadway Market, catching a no brainer film in the cinema and mustering up some new dessert in the kitchen.

What would you be if you weren’t a garment technologist?
When I eventually retire, I plan to open an old fashioned tea room, much in the style of Betty’s in Harrogate, but with hopefully less tourists, in the serene English countryside that is the Cotswolds.

What is your proudest achievement?
Buying a home for my mother to live in.

What’s your worst ever fashion mistake?
I love colour and sometimes it’s quite easy to get it oh-so-wrong, it’s a fine line between clown and dandy.  Just because the sun is shining, you should remember that your attire can be a little disturbing!
In 1974 I saved my pocket money for a couple of months to buy a pair of 4” platform shoes, oh how wrong they were!! Another bad memory from the late 70’s - I have is a pair of very flared 28” bottom Sloopy jeans that we made in the factory where I worked by the truck loads!!

What was the last fashion item you purchased?
This Monte Blanc Passport wallet and these delectable beauties from Blaqua.