‘Hmm, let’s see. Just about the right size for a world champion, I’d say. But pretty slim, considering there’s a hurricane in there . . .”
In the summer of 1982 Alex Higgins was on top of the snooker world. In many ways, he was the snooker world, turning a snooze-inducing telly sport into edge-of-the-seat drama – remember that break of 69 against Jimmy White in the World Championship semi-final?
Having despatched White and claimed the trophy, Higgins promptly took himself to Louis Copeland’s shop in Capel Street, where our photo shows him being measured by the master tailor himself.
It was the first meeting between the two men, who were of a similar age, and the start of a friendship which, eventually and somewhat bizarrely, saw Copeland accompany the tempestuous star to a royal garden party. “Even the guards at Buckingham Palace were queuing up to get his signature,” he told the BBC. “They were getting the inside of their hats signed.”
Higgins, of course, was just one of a veritable stream of celebrities who have sported Copeland suits over the years, from Michael Caine and Kevin Spacey to the mixed martial artist Conor McGregor and former president Bill Clinton.
But few would measure up to the famously volatile Higgins. You’d never guess from the somewhat wary encounter captured in our photograph that the pair would become good pals. They seem so different: Higgins in his polo shirt and chinos, Copeland immaculately suited; Higgins cocky and self-assured, Copeland cautious in his application of the tape-measure, as if afraid his famous client might bite.
At the same time, there’s clearly a spark of humour passing between the two. A prologue to a friendship: it’s not something we often see in a photograph, but definitely something to be celebrated.
Arminta Wallace