For the last 125 years, J. H. Cutler has proudly upheld the time-honoured traditions of bespoke
tailoring in Sydney, Australia.
Current Managing Director John Cutler is the
fourth generation of his family to run a family
business whose foundations are firmly planted
in London’s Savile Row, the home of bespoke
tailoring.
The company story began in the mid 1800s, when
the Cutler family, originally from the English
Midlands, emigrated to Australia. Joseph Handel
Cutler, an engineer by trade, found work in
Ballarat during the time of the Victorian Gold
Rush.
At that time his eldest son, also named Joseph
Handel Cutler, was only six years old, and with
no previous family history in the craft of tailoring
it was surprising that, when he reached his
teens, he made the decision to travel by Cobb & Co stagecoach to Sydney to become a tailor’s
apprentice.
First Shop in
1884
It proved to be an inspired choice of career.
In 1884 Joseph opened his first shop at 70 King
Street in the heart of the city. J. H. Cutler
prospered as Sydney grew, and continued to trade
at the original site until the early 1900s when
Joseph and his son Leslie Frederick Cutler moved
to Bligh Street. In 1932 Leslie, who was now
managing the company, moved to bigger premises,
purchasing a terraced house at 7 Bligh Street
close to Sydney’s gentlemen’s clubs
and the city’s financial heart, which
the family firm occupied for a period of 50
years.
In the early 1930s bespoke tailors, and there
were many in Sydney, considered themselves to
be the undisputed arbiters of conservative,
upper-class taste. Whilst it is difficult to
pinpoint exactly when the firm began making
clothes for society’s elite, during this
era leading identities including Australian
Governors General, prime ministers and overseas
dignitaries, were finding their way on to J.
H. Cutler’s customer list.
In her book “ My Town- Sydney in the
1930s” Lydia Gill wrote, “In one
of these houses was a well-known and excellent
tailor patronised by my then boss: I think the
name was Cutler. When paying this account for
the boss, I was always given a chair while they
made out a receipt (whatever happened to all
these little ‘thoughtfulnesses’?)
The suits being paid for were usually about
25 pounds each- a house could be furnished for
about fifty pounds. I was staggered, and really
needed that chair so graciously produced.”
In 1939 Leslie’s son Bruce returned from
London where he had been studying the trade
to serve in New Guinea during the war and then
to manage the family business at 7 Bligh Street
until his retirement in 1976, by which time
J. H. Cutler had traded in Bligh Street for
over 70 years.
World’s
Best Tailors
In 1988 J. H. Cutler were one of the few Australian
businesses honoured by an invitation from Lord
Lichfield to be featured in the inaugural edition
of Courvoisier’s Book of the Best, a bible
for stylish international travellers. We also
received further accolades, being included in
lists compiled in the United States of the world’s
ten best tailors.
The company finally left Bligh Street in March
1993, moving to premises in nearby O’Connell
Street, where for a period of time we augmented
our bespoke offering with a broader range of
predominantly international prestige label ready
to wear men’s clothing.
Renewed Focus
A refocussing on our core business of bespoke tailoring and shirt making in late 2004 coincided with J. H. Cutler relocating 50 meters further down O'Connell Street.
In late 2005 John and his team completed a particularly significant commission for a valued client. The overcoat, made from vicuna and produced entirely by hand was considered to be the most expensive overcoat ever produced in Australia. (See www.vicunabespoke.com for full details)
Then in August 2008, the need for more space led to a further move, this time across the street, where we occupy elegant private rooms on Level 6 at 12 O'Connell Street, a heritage listed art deco style building. Here in a private, discrete and relaxed environment we offer the same exceptional level of service and product quality that has delighted Australian and international clients for the last 125 years.
We feel honoured that this performance continues to be recognised by media in Australia and overseas, including Forbes, Axel Springer, Qantas Australian Way and Askmen.com, through our inclusion on lists of the world's best bespoke tailors.
125th Anniversary Of Our Founding
2009 marks the 125th anniversary of the opening of our original business in King Street in 1884 by Joseph Handel Cutler. We take great pride in the fact that throughout that time four generations of the Cutler family have assiduously maintained the exacting standards, the quality, the cut, the style and the fit that has made the Cutler name synonymous with exclusive clothing in Australia and across the world.
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