- Title: UK: "Suits you, sir" - Savile Row's remarkable resurgence in men's fashion
- Date: 20th February 2013
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FEBRUARY 14, 2013) (REUTERS) ( * GOOD SCENES ***) EXTERIOR ANDRESON AND SHEPPARD SHOP CLOSE ANDERSON AND SHEPPARD SIGN SHOP INTERIOR CLOSE OF FIRE APPRENTICE OLIVER TRENCHARD TAKES NOTES OF MEAUREMENTS CLOSE TRENCHARD'S FACE TRENCHARD MARKS OUT SHAPE OF SUIT ON FABRIC WOMAN SEWING SUIT TOGETHER CLOSE OF SEWING MAN MAKING SUIT USING IRON DEVICE CLOSE MEASURE BOOK DETAILS OF HRH PRINCE OF WALES ORDER CLOSE OF LAURENCE OLIVIER'S SIGNATURE IN ORDER BOOK WIDE OF AMERICAN ACTOR GARY COOPER'S ORDER AND PHOTO CLOSE OF GARY COOPER'S SIGNATURE IN BOOK CHARLIE CHAPLIN'S CUSTOMER CONTACT CARD (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHOP MANAGER COLIN HAYWARD SAYING: "I think there's still enough people out there that want to wear suits and what we have noticed is that for a while people steered away from the suit and now it seems to be going back the other way and I think where there's a competitive job market out there people just want to give themselves that little extra edge and I think a well-made suit does that." CLOSE OF CUTTER TRENCHARD CUTTING CLOTH WIDE OF ROOM PAN FROM RACKS TO MATERIALS ON BENCH (SOUNDBITE) APPRENTICE CUTTER OLIVER TRENCHARD SAYING: "I address my boss as Mr Hitchcock. That's how it's always been done and I'm sure it always will be. I don't know if I'll take the same title when I'm his age but we'll see." VARIOUS OF CUSTOMER JAMES MASSEY BEING MEASURED FOR SUIT (SOUNDBITE) APPRENTICE CUTTER OLIVER TRENCHARD, ON FORMALITY IN THE SHOP, SAYING: "I think it's good I think it's nice to have that healthy boundary between people. We also, no matter how customer you may get with the customer, you'll always call the customer sir." (SOUNDBITE) CUSTOMER JAMES MASSEY, SAYING: "Still wearing some of the suits that I bought five or six years ago, I can confirm that they last longer. If you put on weight, as most men invariably do, it can be let out for you, you don't have to chuck it away and buy another suit. So the product actually lasts longer so from that point of view, provided you can find the initial outlay, financially it actually makes sense." EXTERIOR BUDD SHIRTMAKERS CLOSE BUDD SHIRTMAKERS SIGN ACTOR EDWARD FOX CHATTING TO ANDY ROWLEY OF BUDD SHIRTMAKERS IN SHOP CLOSE OF SHIRT ON COUNTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR AND BUDD SHIRTMAKERS CUSTOMER FOR 55 YEARS EDWARD FOX SAYING: "If people have got enough money to buy the best, they'll go where the best is. It's quite curious that - you see it in all sorts of ways. If people have something that is really attractive and really good, as all this merchandise is, they will come, and even actually not bankers, not people who are very very rich. The very very rich will come of course, but so they should because you have got to support what is the top end of the market really." DRESS SHIRT ON WALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR AND BUDD SHIRTMAKERS CUSTOMER FOR 55 YEARS EDWARD FOX SAYING: "Well many things (keep me coming back). Mr Rowley keeps me coming back, Mr Butcher upstairs, we have a lovely conversation every time I do. It's a bit like a home, sort of. But I suppose when you find where you know you will be able to buy exactly what you want and go out happy with what you've bought, even though you have spent a few more pounds than you would perhaps down the road or somewhere else, you have got what you want and you know the quality is in it." NIGHT SHIRT HANGING UP (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANDY ROWLEY, BUDD SHIRTMAKERS, ON CLIENTELE, SAYING: "There's quite a variety of the people who come to see us. At one end of the scale we've got the Duke of Marlborough and at the other end of the scale we have got from the city a dustman that comes in and saves up to have one shirt made at a time in his pattern as and when he can afford to do so." CLOSE OF BESPOKE SHIRT BEING CUT WIDE OF BESPOKE SHIRT BEING CUT
- Embargoed: 7th March 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- City:
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Business,Entertainment,Economic News
- Reuters ID: LVAB3KAVTC2VJUQ5U9PQACQY0414
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Savile Row, London's most exclusive shopping district for tailored suits and clothes is bucking the trend in the downturn -- and it's all thanks to the personal touch, say clients including veteran actor Edward Fox.
With a blazing fire, leather Chesterfield sofa, and half-empty bottle of single malt; the London suit-maker Anderson & Sheppard feels like a shop frozen in time.
In the back a number of tailors, all impeccably dressed, cut cloth on wooden work benches in a scene straight from a sartorial version of a Jack Daniels advert.
This Savile Row tailor, where first names are banned and customers are always "sir", may feel like a museum to Britain's faded glory but the bespoke menswear business is enjoying a remarkable resurgence.
Their client book reveals they were previously the tailor of choice for Charlie Chaplin, Laurence Olivier and Gary Cooper (they still make heir to the throne Prince Charles' suits), but Anderson & Sheppard is now attracting a new generation of less exclusive young clientele.
The business, where a suit costs 3,800 pounds ($5,900), had a turnover of 4 million pounds in 2012, up 17.6 percent on the previous year.
A number of other houses on Savile Row have also enjoyed over 10 percent growth in recent years with total revenue for the informal group of suitmakers now estimated to be 30-35 million pounds.
"I think there's still enough people out there that want to wear suits and what we have noticed is that for a while people steered away from the suit and now it seems to be going back the other way and I think where there's a competitive job market out there people just want to give themselves that little extra edge and I think a well-made suit does that," manager Colin Heywood said.
Trainee cutter Oliver Henchard beat off stiff competition to join the company as an apprentice, following in the footsteps of the late British designer Alexander McQueen, who worked with the company for two years as a trainee in the mid-1980s. He said he enjoys the formal atmosphere in his workplace.
"I address my boss as Mr Hitchcock. That's how it's always been done and I'm sure it always will be. I don't know if I'll take the same title when I'm his age but we'll see," he said.
The renaissance of classic British menswear is a dramatic turn-around for an industry that was left on the ropes by the rise of decent quality read-to-wear suits and shirts in the 1970s and 1980s.
What was then dismissed as dusty and old fashioned is now the subjects of sartorial blogs and forums from India to the U.S.
This has made Savile Row feel less esoteric without any compromise on quality or cost.
Customer James Massey, who runs a financial PR firm, said the quality of the suits made the investment worth it.
"I'm still wearing some of the suits that I bought five or six years ago, I can confirm that they last longer," he said.
On the other side of Piccadilly the veteran British actor Edward Fox, star of movies such as Day of the Jackal, was visiting traditional shirtmaker Budd. The 75-year-old said he has been a customer there for 55 years.
"Well many things (keep me coming back). Mr Rowley keeps me coming back, Mr Butcher upstairs, we have a lovely conversation every time I do. It's a bit like a home, sort of. But I suppose when you find where you know you will be able to buy exactly what you want and go out happy with what you've bought, even though you have spent a few more pounds than you would perhaps down the road or somewhere else, you have got what you want and you know the quality is in it," he said.
Shop manager Andy Rowley said the company was now reaping the rewards for sticking by its principles through the tough economic times.
"There's quite a variety of the people who come to see us. At one end of the scale we've got the Duke of Marlborough and at the other end of the scale we have got from the city a dustman that comes in and saves up to have one shirt made at a time in his pattern as and when he can afford to do so," he said in the cosy shop below the cutting room where the bespoke shirts are still cut by hand.
Jermyn Street used to be the home of London's bespoke shirt-making industry, but many of the old stores such as T.M. Lewin and Hawes & Curtis expanded into mass sale, pushing down the price by producing shirts in Vietnam and Turkey.
Budd grew 25 percent in 2012 on top of a 6-10 percent growth rate over the past six years.
Within this overall growth market with men spending more money on clothes and demanding higher quality, Savile Row is uniquely placed.
While big fashion brands such as Tom Ford, Dior, and Paul Smith, invest heavily on marketing, distribution and staff, Savile Row tailors remain a cottage industry employing only a few dozen people and producing suits on site.
With fewer overheads and an international reputation from a century of suit-making which does not cost a penny in advertising, Savile Row remains a surprisingly competitive and durable business model. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None