The Golden Shears Awards celebrates the next generation of UK tailoring and fashion talent. Founded in 1974 by Robert Bright, MBE, Golden Shears proudly champions its 50th anniversary this year. Dubbed the “Oscars of the Tailoring World”, the Golden Shears Awards will take place on Monday 17 March, at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall. Held every two years, this prestigious competition unites skilled fashion students and apprentice tailors, providing a platform to showcase their creative vision and technical excellence.

From nearly 90 entries, 25 finalists have been selected based on technical excellence to compete in the Golden Shears Final 2025. The highly anticipated final features a live catwalk show judged by industry leaders and three winners will be awarded prestigious trophies on the night:

• 1st prize The Golden Shears and £3,000
• 2nd prize The Silver Shears and £2,500
• 3rd prize The Rising Star and £2,000

Applicants are either apprentices with a tailoring company or university/college students on a tailoring course. All must demonstrate excellence in both their design and tailoring skills and be vetted by their master or course leader.

The Technical Judges are:

• Joe Morgan, Chittleborough & Morgan

• Will Adams, Dunhill

• Patrick Murphy, Davies & Son

• Juan Carlos Benito, Monte Lys

• Brigitte Steputis, Vivienne Westwood

The Style Judges are:

• Lisa Armstrong OBE – Head of Fashion at The Daily Telegraph

• Jo Hooper – Founder of NRBY Clothing

• Catherine Hayward – Fashion Editor and Creative Director

• Stuart Trevor – Fashion designer and Founder of All Saints and STUART TREVOR clothing brands

• Jayesh Vaghela is a self-taught Master Hatter at Lock & Co. and the resident hatter on BBC’s The Repair Shop

The evening will be hosted by Nick Hewer and Simon Cundey from Henry Poole & Co.

The Golden Shears awards are supported by CAPITB Trust, The Drapers’ Company, The Merchant Taylors’ Company and The Pollen Estate.

Jenny Casebourne, Head of Portfolio of The Pollen Estate comments:

“The Pollen Estate is pleased to support The Golden Shears awards again this year. As custodians of Savile Row and surrounding streets, the next generation of tailors are important to our community and these awards are a testament to craftsmanship in the UK. We are excited to help nurture the future generations in their knowledge and skills of suit making and we look forward to seeing more young talent entering a career in tailoring.”

The Golden Shears 2025 finalists are from the following universities and tailoring companies:

Universities:

• L.A.B.

• London College of Fashion

• Wimbledon College of Art

• Sunderland University

• The Tailoring Academy (Macclesfield)

• UCA (University of Creative Arts, Epsom)

• Ravensbourne University (Greenwich)

The apprentices from tailoring companies:

• Huntsman

• Henry Poole & Co

• Connock & Lockie

• Maurice Sedwell

• Fedro Gaudenzi

• Whitcomb & Shaftsbury

• Richard James

• Anderson & Sheppard

For more details, website link here and follow @thegoldenshears