Built Not Born Podcast · 27 March 2026
The Founder of All Saints Reveals the Truth About the Fashion Industry | Stuart Trevor
All Saints founder Stuart Trevor shares the story behind his rise in fashion, the business lessons that shaped All Saints and why his latest brand is built around reworking clothing that already exists.
FeaturingStuart TrevorFashion Designer & Founder, Stuart TrevorEpisode guide
About this episode
Stuart Trevor is best known as the founder of All Saints, but his journey in fashion began long before the brand became a familiar name on British high streets. In this episode of Built Not Born In Business, Chris and Helen Butler visit Stuart at his studio to explore the experiences, decisions and sheer persistence that shaped his career, from learning to sew and customising clothes as a child to building one of Britain's most recognisable fashion brands.
Stuart's fascination with clothes started early. Growing up without much money meant wearing hand-me-downs, but instead of seeing that purely as a limitation, he began altering clothes and developing an obsession with fashion and individual style. He talks about wanting a pair of red boots because of David Bowie, collecting vintage clothing and eventually studying fashion in Nottingham. One of his earliest career-defining moments came when he refused to accept that one of his university outfits should be excluded from a competition. When Paul Smith visited the university, Stuart approached him directly, showed him the work and asked what he thought. Paul loved both outfits and subsequently offered Stuart a work placement.
Another opportunity soon appeared through the Smirnoff Fashion Awards, where Stuart won the Men's Daywear Fashion Award at the Royal Albert Hall. The exposure led David Rees to repeatedly contact his university because he wanted to meet Stuart. Initially Stuart was reluctant because he had already set his sights on working with Paul Smith. Eventually he agreed to the meeting, and David offered him an opportunity to travel to Italy, visit major menswear fairs, meet designers and manufacturers and begin developing product for Rees. Stuart went on to spend around a decade there, gaining the commercial experience that would later help him build All Saints.
Throughout the conversation, Stuart repeatedly returns to one deceptively simple principle: ask. He rejects the idea that opportunities simply appeared because he was lucky or already successful. When he wanted something, he identified the person who might be able to help and contacted them. His approach is not about expecting everybody to say yes. It is about refusing to say no on somebody else's behalf. Chris and Helen reflect on how relevant that lesson has become in their own businesses and even in securing conversations with guests such as Stuart.
The episode also goes behind the creation and growth of All Saints. Stuart discusses the commercial instincts, creative decisions and partnerships that helped shape the brand, as well as what happened when ownership and ambitions changed. His experience highlights an important founder lesson: the people you bring into a company can dramatically influence what that company eventually becomes. Investment and partnerships can create opportunities for growth, but founders also need to understand whether everybody involved still wants to build the same business.
Stuart's latest venture takes many of the lessons from his career and applies them to a problem he believes the fashion industry can no longer ignore. Rather than continually manufacturing conventional new collections, the Stuart Trevor brand works with clothing and materials that already exist, including vintage garments, dead stock and military pieces. Items can be repaired, customised, reworked or upcycled into something desirable again. The conversation explores overproduction, clothing waste, greenwashing and why keeping garments in circulation for longer could become an increasingly important part of fashion's future.
Ultimately, Stuart's story is a reminder that entrepreneurship rarely follows a tidy plan. His career has been shaped by creativity, commercial instinct, difficult partnerships, calculated risks and a willingness to keep knocking on doors. Whether the opportunity is a customer, collaboration, supplier, investor or career-changing introduction, his message to founders is remarkably consistent: work out who can help, understand what might be valuable to them, make the ask and do not allow the first no to become the end of the story.
Key takeaways
What you'll learn
- Do not reject yourself before you have made the ask. Stuart repeatedly created opportunities by approaching the person who could help and asking directly.
- Commercial instinct can be built by paying attention to what customers respond to, then acting quickly when demand is proven.
- The right business partner can accelerate growth, but a mismatch in values or direction can change the future of the company.
- Strong brands can turn overlooked objects and stories into recognisable identity, as All Saints did with vintage Singer sewing machines.
- Circular business models can create value from products and materials that already exist instead of relying on constant new production.
- Founder trust matters when customers are sceptical of corporate sustainability claims. Stuart chose to put his own name behind the new business.
Questions from this episode
Frequently asked questions
Who is Stuart Trevor?
Stuart Trevor is a British fashion designer and entrepreneur best known for founding All Saints. Before launching the brand, he spent around 10 years working with Rees, where he developed valuable commercial experience in fashion. He now runs the Stuart Trevor brand, which focuses on reworking, repairing and upcycling clothing that already exists.
How did Stuart Trevor get started in the fashion industry?
Stuart's interest in clothing began during childhood, when he learned to sew, altered hand-me-down clothes and developed a fascination with fashion and individual style. He later studied fashion in Nottingham. An important early opportunity came when he approached Paul Smith directly during a university visit and showed him work that a tutor had not wanted to put forward in full. Paul loved both outfits and offered Stuart a work placement. Stuart also won the Men's Daywear Fashion Award at the Smirnoff Fashion Awards, which ultimately led to an opportunity with David Rees.
What does Stuart Trevor's story teach entrepreneurs about asking for opportunities?
One of Stuart's recurring lessons is that you should not reject yourself before somebody else has even had the opportunity to answer. When he wants something, he tries to identify the person who could potentially help and approaches them directly. He accepts that the answer may be no, but believes founders should continue asking and looking for the next opportunity rather than allowing one rejection to stop them.
What did Stuart Trevor learn about business partners and investment while building All Saints?
Stuart's experience demonstrates that bringing another person or investor into a company is about considerably more than accessing money or accelerating growth. Business partners can influence the direction, priorities and future of the company. As ownership and ambitions around All Saints changed, Stuart eventually found himself no longer wanting to build the larger mass-market version of the business others were pursuing. His story highlights why founders need to think carefully about alignment as well as capital when choosing who to build with.
Why did Stuart Trevor eventually leave All Saints?
Stuart explains that changes in ownership and direction meant the business was developing into something different from what he personally wanted to build. Rather than continuing with a larger mass-market vision he no longer felt aligned with, he ultimately chose to move on from the company he had founded.
What is different about the Stuart Trevor fashion brand?
Rather than following the conventional fashion model of continually producing large quantities of new clothing, the Stuart Trevor brand focuses on garments and materials that already exist. This includes vintage clothing, dead stock and military pieces that can be repaired, customised, reworked or upcycled. The aim is to create desirable fashion while keeping existing clothing and materials in circulation for longer.
What does Stuart Trevor say about waste and sustainability in the fashion industry?
Stuart challenges the enormous amount of clothing and material that is already in existence while the fashion industry continues producing more. His current approach is based on finding value in those existing garments rather than automatically manufacturing something new. The episode explores overproduction, waste, circularity and the need for more meaningful action rather than relying on sustainability claims or greenwashing.
What is the main business lesson founders can take from Stuart Trevor's story?
Persistence runs throughout Stuart's career. His opportunities did not come from simply waiting to be discovered. He approached people, entered competitions, followed opportunities, took risks and continued when a door did not immediately open. For business owners, his experience is a reminder that progress often comes from combining a strong idea with the willingness to keep asking, adapting and moving towards the next opportunity.
Resources from this episode
Put the ideas into practice.
Download the practical resources created from this conversation.
The Keep Knocking Opportunity Framework
A practical workbook for founders who need customers, introductions, partnerships, suppliers, investment or permission to move an idea forward. Inspired by Stuart Trevor’s repeated lesson to make the ask, show the value for the other person and keep moving when the answer is no.
Get this resource →