Morning:
13°c
They have discreetly dressed the rich, powerful and landed for more than 250 years with a reputation for the highest quality that money can buy.
But after a new generation of cutprice imitators moved into their patch, the gentleman bespoke tailors of Savile Row, where a suit can cost more than £3,000, have sought out the protection
of something as vulgar as a brand.
The Savile Row Bespoke Association has launched a subtle “kite mark” to distinguish its suits from other companies which make large parts of their suits overseas but still use the name of
the famous Mayfair street.
They are even considering applying for official appellation d'origine contrôlée protection for the name to give it the same status as champagne and parma ham.
It is a culture shock for an industry where even displaying the name of the tailor on the product is seen as showy ostentation.
The move to protect the exclusivity of the Savile Row name comes after a number of recent arrivals muscled into their “manor” selling “made to order" suits for £500.
The row was further stoked last year when the Advertising Standards Authority said a Savile Row tailor advertising “bespoke” suits at a fraction of the price of the real thing was
entitled to use the phrase.
Anda Rowland, one of the Savile Row Bespoke Association's five board members and vice-chairman of Anderson & Sheppard, said a stamp of assurance was needed to educate modern customers
cut from a different cloth than their noble and royal predecessors.
She said: “A lot of clients will think the address is good enough. It was really aimed at the younger generation coming in who really don't know what they are looking at.”
Only about 7,000 genuinely bespoke suits are made each year. Each involves a paper pattern by a master cutter with the suit made entirely by hand involving around 50 hours of labour. By contrast, a made to measure suit can be sewn by machine.
Ms Rowland said: “How can people still have change from £500? You can't — it costs around £1,500 to make. It cannot be the same product.”
The move came after long established Savile Row tailors realised they had been slow to respond to a changing market which has moved from ageing
landowning aristocrats to thirtysomething hedge fund managers.
Ms Rowland said: “If you typed Savile Row into Google, the first four pages had nothing to do with Savile Row. It was anything from sunglasses frames to golf bags.”
She added: “Our members are facing a lot of young customers whose fathers had not brought them to the tailor. A lot of younger men have no idea what they are looking for.”
Sales of bespoke suits have been rising this year despite the global financial crisis, although demand for traditional pinstripe “banker” suits has plummeted since the collapse of Lehmans.
Reader views (3)
Tailors plonking their name plate outside the shop is nothing new in Savile Row.
In the 1960's Hardy Amies (Dressmaker to the Queen) had his name emblazoned outside the shop in Savile Row.
Cowboys have infiltrated the good name of Savile Row and are churning out rubbish at rip-off prices to the unsuspecting.
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR
who's designing the label then ?
- Digitalvirtue, london & lagos
seems like a great idea, why should they see their craftsmanship and quality usurped by cheap knock-off merchants cashing in on their name ?
- Squiz, Islington
