IN 1982 at the age of sixteen, David Thomas dropped out of Churchdown School on the advice of his career teacher.

The teacher stated, “You won’t pass your exams to gain entry to college and best to get a trade.” Upon that advice, David pursued a four-year plumbing apprenticeship.

The brother of Made in Stroud owner Clare Honeyfield, he was inspired by pictures of Boy George and his contemporaries out and about in the “New Romantic” scene and dreamt about going to London, meeting Boy George and becoming a fashion stylist.

“A square peg in a round hole,” as a plumber, David became determined to fulfill his dreams. David left his plumbing and in 1988 applied for and received a grant from the Prince’s Trust.

 

He used that grant to secure a place on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme and then began to invest the money in his first portfolio and moved to London.

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, Boy George’s stylist and jewelry designer. By 1990, David was himself styling Boy George and continued to do so for the next ten years.

In 1991 and at the age of twenty five, David became the youngest fashion editor in the world for British Esquire Magazine and subsequently at twenty-six, the youngest fashion editor in the US as contributing fashion editor of Esquire Gentleman. During the years that David worked 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 American Vogue and Vanity Fair.

David is currently living in Hollywood and is the contributing fashion editor of Esquire UK, and continues to work for a number of magazines including Vanity Fair US, Vanity Fair Italy, L’Uomo Vogue, Flaunt, Tatler and American Esquire.

Over the past twenty-three years of David’s career, he has worked with various clients such as: Oasis, Sting, The Verve, Snow Patrol, Liza Minelli, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Angelina Jolie, The Spice Girls, David and Victoria Beckham, Kylie Minogue, KD Lang, Robbie Williams, Dita Von Teese and Usher. He currently works with clients such as: Puff Daddy, Diddy Dirty Money, John Legend, Chris Brown, Britney Spears, Matthew McConaughey, Chris Hemsworth and Avril Lavigne.

David is launching a campaign to crowd-fund for Vanity Project - a new book celebrating a retrospective of style and raising funds for, and awareness of, the work of The Prince’s Trust.

The book, with a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales and an introduction by Boy George, will include a rich archive of photographs, Polaroids, drawings and sketches of Thomas's work over the last 25 years - along with an exclusive portfolio by some of the world’s leading portrait photographers.

This will be a series of iconic portraits of more than 25 celebrities, each wearing an outfit of their choice from over the last 25 years.

Vanity Project, available from early 2016, will be published by crowd-funded publisher Unbound.

The online publishing platform, founded by John Mitchinson and Justin Pollard of QI and author Dan Kieran, allows writers to pitch ideas online directly to readers who pledge financial support. Authors including Graham Smith and Chris Sullivan of We Can be Heroes, Shaun Usher of Letters of Note and Paul Kingsnorth of The Wake are all part of the Unbound stable of successful publications.

Vanity Project highlights the symbiotic relationship between fashion and celebrity. It illustrates how the discipline of styling has evolved from the magazine page to the stage to the red carpet.

The story is largely told by the celebrities and designers themselves. These celebrity interviews, conducted by Boy George, amongst others, provide a fascinating glimpse into what goes on backstage, in the dressing room. And ultimately this is the story of a Prince's Trust success: David Thomas.

David said: “Vanity Project is an insight into the business of styling. It’s a beautiful photo book that tells a tale about the relationship between the fairytale worlds of fashion and celebrity, told by the protagonists in their own words. And it’s the story of how, with the right kind of help and belief, one boy’s dream came true."

By pledging to Vanity Project, which will contribute to the work of The Prince's Trust, you too can make the ultimate stylish statement by giving support to another generation of enterprising young talent.”

100% of profits will be donated to The Prince’s Trust.

To find out more about pledging CLICK HERE

David Thomas factfile

David is considered one of the original pioneers of celebrity styling.

In 1982 David dropped out of school and pursued a four-year plumbing apprenticeship. As a plumber, David would devour glossy magazines and newspapers in his spare time and dreamt about going to London and becoming a fashion stylist.

In 1988 David applied for and received a grant from the Prince’s Trust. He used that grant to invest in his first portfolio and move to London. By 1990, David was himself styling Boy George and continued to do so for the next ten years. At the age of twenty-five, David became the youngest fashion editor in the world for British Esquire and subsequently, at twenty-six, the youngest fashion editor in the US as contributing fashion editor of Esquire Gentleman.

David later worked as contributing fashion editor at Vogue Homme, L’Uomo Vogue, Vogue Hommes International and Interview as well as contributing to American Vogue and Vanity Fair.

David currently lives in Hollywood. He is the contributing fashion editor of Esquire UK and continues to work for prestigious magazines including Vanity Fair US, Vanity Fair Italy, L’Uomo Vogue, Flaunt, Tatler and American Esquire.

David has worked with world renowned photographers including: Mario Testino, Annie Leibovitz, Ellen Von Unwerth, Glen Luchford, Mark Seliger, Norman Jean Roy, Tony Duran, Walter Chin, Randee St. Nicholas and Yu Tsai. He has worked with clients as varied as: Calvin Harris, Meghan Trainor, David Guetta, Oasis, Sting, Liza Minelli, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Angelina Jolie, The Spice Girls, David and Victoria Beckham, Kylie Minogue, Dita Von Teese, Usher, John Legend, Britney Spears, Matthew McConaughey and Chris Hemsworth