Patrick Grant has been "obsessed" with fashion ever since he was a child.

Patrick Grant

Patrick Grant

The 44-year-old fashion designer, who is the creative director of London's Savile Row tailors Norton & Sons, has admitted he has "always" had a love for designing, which started at an early age when he adorned his first school uniform at the age of five years old.

The creative mastermind said: "Always. From my first school uniform aged five I was obsessed with clothes."

And the Scottish star often spent hours rummaging through racks of clothes at charity shops in pursuit of "the perfect jacket".

The 'The Great British Sewing Bee' judge said: "I would spend all day in charity shops rummaging to find the perfect jacket."

However, Patrick has admitted before he embarked on a career in the fashion industry he had intended to embark on a job in engineering, although "an unplanned leap of faith" made him change his path.

He explained: "I had a completely different career in engineering before starting my own business. But 11 years ago I took an unplanned leap of faith and bought one of the oldest tailors on Savile Row, Norton & Sons. It was in dire financial straits and the idea was simply to nurse it back to health."

Patrick has since taken another project under his wing and has set up Community Clothing because he didn't want the factory to simply close.

He explained to ES magazine: "Two years ago we bought a factory in Blackburn saving it from closure. Like many other great UK clothing factories, seasonal fashion meant it had loads of spare capacity. At the same time, you've got people who'd love to buy British stuff but can't afford it. The solution? Make great, affordable clothes in UK factory quiet periods."