Inverness author reveals his incredible story of creating costumes for rock and movie stars from The Beatles and Slade to Peaky Blinders and Captain America

With a debut novel just released, an Inverness man reveals his extraordinary journey from rural Caithness to London, where he designed costumes for major rock and movie stars.

Ken Calder (79) said he grew up in a single-parent household in the Caithness hamlet of Spittal, and his story is the archetypal tale of rags to riches with a slight stumble in between. Though a work of fiction, his novel, The Cast Iron Certainty, is based on some of his life experiences in London’s shady underworld of the 1960s and 70s.

In an exclusive interview, Ken revealed how he went from the rural idylls of Caithness with a “few quid” in his pocket to become a master tailor in London, creating outfits for major rock stars from the glam era through to punk and beyond, as well as movie stars, with his company Aero Leather Clothing which his son and daughter now run.

“I left school at 15 after doing incredibly well at junior school but I fell foul of the headmaster at Halkirk and it became a nightmare,” Ken recalled.

“I made the huge mistake of asking him to be excused religious instruction and then I was picked upon. Also, because I was from a single-parent family, that was frowned upon at that time.”

Ken excelled in athletics and football but loved horse racing and thought he might become a jockey. His mum, Donna Calder, suggested he might thrive in London, so he set off with five pounds in his pocket back in the early 60s.

“I got a job in a bookmaker’s and the guy who owned it took me under his wing. The best thing that ever happened was when he sent me out to a betting shop in Soho, and one of the punters was Ronnie Scott, who said I should come and work with him at his jazz club.”

Ronnie knew that Ken was struggling to enjoy the type of music played at his club, so helped him get work at the Marquee Club which had relocated to Wardour Street in 1964 and went on to feature many major rock bands on its tiny stage over the next 25 years.

“By then, I’d been getting secondhand jeans from Portobello Market and flogging them to Mods. Someone showed me how to use a sewing machine and everyone seemed to like the clothes I made. I also played rhythm guitar with Peter Frampton’s first band, The Herd, and enjoyed writing songs.”

Ken became disillusioned with being a musician and quit in 1967 to concentrate on tailoring. Amongst his first clients were band members from Free and Keith Emerson. “It was all very casual and people would just knock on the door and say ‘Have you got anything, Ken?’ I set myself up in a small shop, and one of the first people through the door was Mike d’Abo from Manfred Mann. I sold him some trousers that weren’t very good and I never saw him again.”

Undaunted, Ken gradually built up his skills, and a major break came when he collaborated with a Saville Row trained tailor. Things ramped up enormously from the moment he opened a shop called Ruskin. “In less than a year, I went from having a five-pound bedsit to a four-bedroom mansion in Hurlingham. Freddie Mercury worked in one of my shops briefly in his pre-Queen days.

“In the 60s and 70s, I dressed The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Santana, Elton John and many more.”

Despite not liking the music from the glam rock era in the UK, Ken made outfits for the likes of Slade, Suzi Quatro and Sweet. “I hated glam rock and prog rock. Each one wanted bigger platform shoes than the last one. I thought one of the silly arses would fall off them and sue me, so I said I’m not doing it anymore and moved back to Scotland for a year until I ran out of money.”

However, when the punk scene erupted across Britain in 1976, Ken found a renewed enthusiasm. “I absolutely loved it. I went to see The Clash a lot, along with X-Ray Spex and Sham 69. The punks were such nice kids.”

When major riots hit London in 1981, Ken was initially worried his shop would be trashed and looted. “There was this young kid who came in the shop and said there’s going to be riots this weekend, but nothing’s going to happen to you guys.”

Ken recalled the scenes of devastation playing out before him as he lived just above the shop on Falcon Road in Battersea. “It was like something out of a movie. Fights were going on between skinheads, black kids and police. There were cars upside down and on fire.

“When I went down in the morning, every single shop in the road had its windows stoved in, but ours wasn’t touched. I felt embarrassed and felt like putting in my own window as I thought everyone’s going to think we’re part of this.”

Around this time, Ken started importing vintage leather jackets from America and refashioned them for the UK market. “The Pretenders became good customers, but Chrissie [Hynde] was a bit of a pain if I’m honest. Then we started getting film work and made clothes for Empire of the Sun.”

His company, Aero Leather Clothing founded in 1981, became a huge success – much greater than he could ever have imagined.

“The firm supplied personal clothing for the likes of Daniel Craig, Johnny Depp, Dave Groll, Paul Weller, The Stone Roses, and many more, plus wardrobes for Captain America, Peaky Blinders, Masters of the Air, Bohemian Rhapsody and others.”

Not wanting to bring up his children in London, Ken moved back to Scotland with his wife Lydia and started a factory in Galashiels. “We won a Queen’s Award for Export and Menswear Exporter of the Year and were pretty chuffed about that.”

Ken officially retired in 2004 but had to help restart the company after an unscrupulous managing director stole around £500,000 from it in 2012. “We were about a week away from losing the whole firm. He ended up in jail and is now working on the bins. We treated him like family, and I couldn’t believe he’d ripped us off.”

His son and daughter, Holly and Denny, now manage the company, which still has a high profile in the glitzy film and TV world. Ken survived oral cancer a few years ago and is now fighting fit despite “losing half my mouth”.

“While Aero is still going strong, I’ve 90 per cent retired, but I’ve just had my first book published, The Cast Iron Certainty, now for sale on Amazon.” Ken’s book, though fiction, is based on his memories from London’s dark underbelly of the 60s and the many villains that inhabited that world.

The book is described as being “perfect for fans of gritty crime fiction, real-life racing scandals, and the timeless allure of London’s underground elite” and is packed with razor-sharp dialogue, unforgettable characters, along with a plot as intricate as the betting scams it exposes.

The 299-page book is priced £12.10 and available to buy on Amazon at: www.amazon.co.uk/Cast-Iron-Certainty-K-Calder/dp/B0DW1QXTL9

Ken ended the interview with some food for thought: “Perhaps what I managed after landing in London with a fiver in my pocket could inspire other kids from Caithness about to leave school. Anything is possible with hard work and a decent helping of good luck.”