Mark Powell Bespoke on Newburgh Street: what to book and when

Soho has plenty of places to buy a suit. Fewer will talk you through a corduroy two-piece with a Mod silhouette and a pocket square to match. Mark Powell Bespoke is at 10 Newburgh Street, a short street just off Carnaby Street, and it has been part of the Soho story since 1985.

What it is

The shop calls itself the Soho tailor established in 1985, and offers bespoke, made-to-measure and ready-to-wear tailoring. The ThisIsSoho directory lists men's ready-to-wear suits, coats, shirts and ties, with tailoring for men and women. Powell's own line sums up the approach: “I'm firstly about style, then I'm about the craft of tailoring.”

The company is registered as Savile Rogue Limited, a wink at Savile Row. Cold Magazine says Powell found the Row too polished for him, and credits him with pioneering “gangster chic”, built on 1960s Mod silhouettes.

A short history

According to Wikipedia (which carries its own flags about sourcing, so treat the colour as colour), Powell was born in 1960 and raised in the East End and Romford. He learned measure and cut at the outfitter Washington Tremlett in the late 1970s, then managed the Covent Garden branch of the retro menswear shop Robot. In 1985 he opened his first shop on Archer Street, Soho, selling unworn 1940s to 60s suits before adding tailoring.

His own conversation with Paul Gorman, published on the shop's site in 2023, describes him as well established on Newburgh Street. He says his clients were once mostly Soho advertising and media people, and that many visitors now travel from around the country or get in touch online. The 40th anniversary was marked in 2025, and The Protagonist Magazine says Ram Shergill's portrait of Powell was fly-posted around Soho for it.

What to order

There are three tiers, each with its own one-hour consultation booking:

• Ready to wear: named, one-off styles such as The Dean, The Rupert, The Marshall and The Black Shawl Dinner Suit. Sizes are limited because the pieces are designed and made by Mark and his tailors. Start here if you want to leave with something.
• Made to measure: built from a block in the ready-to-wear collection, with your own touches and styling details mixed in. It is made in-store in London. The best middle road.
• Bespoke: the full commission, and the first step in what the shop calls a lasting relationship.

If you want a first look, the Black Shawl Dinner Suit is the one for evening, and the corduroy Dean is the one for everything else. Powell is also known for accessories: tie pins, watch chains and pocket squares. The site lists braces at £95 and a Broadwick Alpaca Jacket at £1,000.

Prices

Ready-to-wear suits on the shop's website have been listed at £1,200 to £1,550, including VAT. Sale prices of £800 to £1,000 have appeared, for example The Marshall at £1,500 reduced to £1,000. Check the site, as these change. For made to measure and bespoke, no current figures are published. A 2015 blog reportedly put made to measure at £1,400 to £1,800 and bespoke from £3,000, which is a decade old, so ask at the consultation.

When to go and how to book

The shop's own site gives opening hours of noon to seven, Monday to Saturday, closed Sunday. A directory lists Sunday hours, so go with the shop and ring first if Sunday is your only day. Book a consultation on the book-online page and allow an hour. For bespoke or made to measure, book ahead and pick a weekday afternoon when you are not rushing. Walk-ins are not promised anywhere, so do not count on one. Phone is 020 7287 5498.

Where to look around

Newburgh Street sits between Carnaby and Kingly, and Kingly Street has long been known as a home of London tailors, according to London College of Fashion. Powell has also sat as a judge in a Shaftesbury Capital and LCF competition offering studio space on Kingly Street, as reported by Cold Magazine. A wander along both after your fitting is time well spent.

Full details are on the contact page, and the shop's conversation with Paul Gorman is worth reading before you go.