Savile Row
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Savile Row occupies a quiet corner of Mayfair in central London and is famous the world over as the home of men's bespoke tailoring.
Many of the greatest, most famous or most infamous men in history have patronised the many tailors that occupy this street. Men such as Winston Churchill, Lord Nelson, and Napoleon III. Many fashion designer have also sought inspiration for their menswear lines in Savile Row. These include Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Tom Ford[citation needed].
The Row runs parallel to Regent Street between Conduit Street at the northern end and Vigo Street at the southern. Linking roads include Burlington Place, Clifford Street and Burlington Gardens.
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[edit] Tailors
Tailors in Savile Row include:
- Gieves & Hawkes (№1 Savile Row)
- Kilgour (№8)
- Jasper Littman (№9)
- Dege & Skinner (№10)
- H. Huntsman est. 1849 (№11)
- Ozwald Boateng (№12a)
- Richard Anderson (№13)
- Henry Poole and Co. est. 1806 (№15)
- Norton & Sons est. 1821 (№16)
- Maurice Sedwell est. 1938 (№19)
- Welsh and Jeffries (№20)
- Davies and Son est. 1803 ((№38){{|Verify source|date=April 2007}}
- James and James (№38){{|Verify source|date=April 2007}}
- Alexandre Of London ((№39){{|Verify source|date=April 2007}}
- Comelie London(№13)
As premises in Savile Row are highly sought after, a number of companies lie just off Savile Row, including Anderson & Sheppard (formerly at №30) which moved to 32 Old Burlington Street in March 2005, The Savile Row Shirt Company and Ede and Ravenscroft est. 1689 (8 Burlington Gardens).
Savile row lies exactly between two London Underground stations, Oxford Circus to the north and Piccadilly Circus east.
[edit] History
Savile Row was created with the development of the Burlington Estate in 1695 and, as with other area roads such as Cork St, the name has connections to Lord Burlington himself, in this case, that of Lady Dorothy Savile, his wife.
Initially, The Row was occupied by military officers and their wives; William Pitt the Younger was an early resident. During the 1800s, the gentry became concerned with neat dress, and Beau Brummell, 1778–1840, epitomised the well-dressed man. He patronised the tailors congregated on the Burlington Estate, notably around Cork Street, and by 1803 some were occupying premises in Savile Row. In 1846, Henry Poole is credited as being the 'Founder of Savile Row' after opening a second entrance to his late father's tailoring premises at № 32 Savile Row, however there were tailors on the Row long before Poole's but sadly none of those originals survive to this day.
In 1969, Nutters of Savile Row opened on Valentine's Day and unleashed the Tommy Nutter / Edward Sexton style on swinging London. Backed by Cilla Black and The Beatles' record company Apple's executive Peter Brown, Nutters of Savile Row dressed the entire social spectrum from the Duke of Bedford and Lord Montagu to Mick and Bianca Jagger and The Beatles. Nutters was the first shop on Savile Row to pioneer 'open windows' and wild displays executed by Simon Doonan. Nutters revolutionised the perception of Savile Row and paved the way for the arrival of other non-conventional inhabitants like Richard James and Ozwald Boateng in the 1990s.
Since 2005, the Savile Row Bespoke Association meets regularly to ensure the future of the tailoring craft in the centre of London. The association meets to address common industry problems, to encourage training and to organise events and other initiatives.
In February 2007, the Lord Mayor of Westminster held a reception in Savile Row to honour the trade and its future.
[edit] Other inhabitants
The offices of The Beatles's Apple Corps were at 3 Savile Row; The Beatles, Badfinger, Mary Hopkin and others recorded in the Apple Studios in the basement. The Beatles' final, live performance was on the roof, on 30 January 1969, that "Rooftop Concert" concludes the documentary film Let It Be. Three decades later, The Bootleg Beatles played atop the same building, on January 29, 1999. [1]
The offices of the Building Societies Association are at 3 Savile Row. Savile Row is in Mayfair, London's traditional art business district. The upper floors of its eighteenth-century houses are home to galleries, such as the Matthew Bown Gallery and Laurent Delaye Gallery, both at (№11 Savile Row.
American retailer Abercrombie and Fitch opened its first European location here in 2007, a flagship store.
[edit] References in Popular Culture
- №7 Savile Row was the London address of Phileas Fogg, protagonist of Jules Verne's classic science fiction novel Around the World in 80 Days.
- The Row is mentioned in Annie in the song You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile. The line is, "Who cares what they're wearing on Main Street or Savile Row?"
- The Row is also mentioned in the song The Jet Set Junta by The Monochrome Set, a satire of the Falklands War:
- Broom, broom, goes the armoured Cadillac through Montevideo
- Rat-a-tat goes the sub-machine gun to restore the status quo
- Snip, snip, go the tailor’s scissors on the suit in Saville Row
- The Japanese band GLAY has a song titled Savile Row ～サヴィル ロウ3番地～ (№3 Savile Row) about travelling to London. The title presumably was decided on because the writer, the band's leader Takuro, is well known to be a Beatles fanatic.
- Savile Row is mentioned in The Kinks's song End of the Season.
- Savile Row is mentioned in Elton John's 2006 song Tinderbox.
- Saville Row appears in the Monopoly Here and Now edition, a mis-spelling of the correct name.
- The Row is mentioned in the British cult movie Withnail and I (1987) when Withnail criticizes his drug dealer, Danny, for having no taste after Danny has remarked on Withnail's 'old suit'. Withnail replies: "This suit was cut by Hawkes of Savile Row. Just because the only tailoring you've ever seen is above your fucking appendix doesn't mean anything." Withnail is referring to surgical stitching as 'tailoring'.
- The Row is mentioned in the television series The West Wing following the death of character Leo McGarry. Staff members share fond memories of Leo in the episode 'Requiem', during which it is remarked that Leo's suits must have cost something equal to the national space budget. Charlie informs the group that Leo's suits all came from Savile Row. In a much earlier episode of the series, the Russian ambassador also remarks on the fine quality of Leo's wardrobe, and notes that he must be having all of his suits custom made.
- The Row is mentioned in the James Bond movie Dr. No. Ian Flemming patronised a number of tailors on the Row.
