David Thomas | Stylist, Costume Designer & Founder of David Thomas X (Part 1)

David Thomas is a world-renowned, well respected fashion stylist with over 30 years of experience in the fashion world. He is considered one of the original pioneers of celebrity styling and was recently included in The Hollywood Reporter's 2017 "5 of Hollywood's most in-demand men's stylists" list.

In 1982 at the age of 16, David Thomas was living in his hometown of Gloucester, UK and dropped out of school at the advice of his career teacher. Upon that advice, David pursued a four-year plumbing apprenticeship. When he was a plumber, during his spare time David would devour glossy fashion magazines and newspaper gossip columns. Determined to fulfill his dreams, David left his plumbing job.

Undaunted and unstoppable, in 1988 David applied for and received a grant from the Prince’s Trust. To support himself, he worked weekends washing dishes in a café and evenings as a lavatory attendant in a West End nightclub while attempting to build his career by working as an assistant for free. That allowed him to get his foot in the right door. He began working as a freelance assistant to Isabella Blow and Ian R. Webb; eventually landing his dream job as an assistant to Judy Blame, stylist and jewelry designer.By 1990, David was himself styling.

In 1991, at the age of 25, David became the youngest fashion editor in the world for British Esquire Magazine and subsequently at 26, the youngest fashion editor in the US as contributing fashion editor of Esquire Gentleman. During the time at Esquire, the magazine had a policy of ‘no models’. David developed an alternative approach to filling the fashion pages and promoting fashion by using musicians, actors, artists and writers. In addition, David later worked as contributing fashion editor at Vogue Homme, L’Uomo Vogue, Vogue Hommes International and Interview as well as contributing to Vanity Fair and British GQ.

Through the years of David’s career, he has worked with various clients such
as: Sting, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Liza Minelli, Angelina Jolie, The
Spice Girls, David and Victoria Beckham, Dita Von Teese, Usher, P.Diddy, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Meghan Trainor, Mariah Carey, Lana Del Rey, Matthew McConaughey, Henry Golding, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Casey Affleck, James Franco, Gerard Butler, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, John Legend, Lionel Richie, Calvin Harris, Harry Connick Jr, David Guetta, Barry Manilow and more. 

Tune in to the first part of this episode of Ritch In Life and listen to David and Ritch talk about being high school drop outs and pursuing careers in the fashion, talk about trends and tailoring and a little celebrity gossip. 

You can follow David  @davethomasstyle and @shopdavidthomasx to find out more.